Health officials: West Nile risk high

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - So far, 48 states have reported West Nile Virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes, according to the center for disease control.

Health officials confirm a total of 1,993 cases of the disease in people this year alone, a 25 percent increase from last week.

Alabama has a total of 16 cases of West Nile in humans with one reported death. Florida has 19 reported cases, and Mississippi has a whopping 113 cases with 4 deaths reported so far.

The state of Texas, however, has the highest reported number of West Nile cases, with 888 infections and 35 deaths.

Health officials are calling it a record-setting worst year in that state.

Local health experts said they are increasing efforts to fight the bite and strategically spray areas that may be impacted.

“It’s what we call action thresholds,” said Donald Lambert, an Environmental Specialist at the Baldwin County Health Department. “(It’s a) certain number of mosquitoes in a trap, nuisance, a vector number of complaints, landing counts.”

Health officials also said the recent passing of Hurricane Isaac dumped a lot of water on the area, making a perfect breeding ground for these pesky bugs.

“With Isaac just coming through, we're going to have a lot of mosquito hatching off due to the amount of water that we received in this area. So people need to be precautious as they go out,” said Ricky Elliotte with the Alabama Department of Public Health.

The Center for Disease Control said there is a lot you can do to protect yourself from mosquitoes.

Your local county health departments also offer services to help you fight the bite free of charge.