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2007 second-worst for West Nile
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FarkThe sixth deaths in South Dakota from West Nile virus this year make 2007 the second-worst year for the disease in the state, according to state epidemiologist Lon Kightlinger of the state Health Department.
The Health Department reported the sixth death last week, a Hutchinson County resident between the ages of 80 and 89. Previous West Nile deaths this year were in Pennington, Todd, Brown, Hand and Lake counties. All but one of the victims were in the 80- to 89-year-old age group.
The most deadly year for West Nile was 2003, when 14 South Dakotans died and more than 1,000 others fell ill.
Kightlinger said three or fewer people have died in the other years since 2003.
This is also the second-worst year for the number of neuro-invasive cases of West Nile, Kightlinger said in a recent phone interview. There have been 48 reported cases of neuro-invasive form of West Nile, which attacks the brain or spinal cord or both, and can result in paralysis and death.
In 2003, there were 171 cases of neuro-invasive West Nile virus in South Dakota. Many of those were in the Rapid City area, Kightlinger said.
So far, there have been 206 reported cases of West Nile virus in the state, the third-highest number since the disease arrived in South Dakota earlier this decade. There were 229 cases in 2005.
So far this year, there have been 19 cases of West Nile virus in Pennington County, eight in Meade County, seven in Butte County, three in Lawrence County, and one each in Custer and Fall River counties.
Kightlinger said West Nile virus is here to stay. "We have to keep up with mosquito control and we have to keep up with personal protection," he said. "We just have to keep fighting this. Two hundred cases and six deaths is not really acceptable."
Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
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