Summertime safety was highlighted in the Black Hills recently by the deaths of two tourists in separate recreational accidents.

A Seattle man, Barry Meehan, was killed in a boating accident at Pactola Lake in June and teenager Colton Stensaas of Kansas fell to his death while hiking and free climbing on rock formations at Sylvan Lake in July.

Thankfully, those kind of medical emergencies will never confront the majority of us. For most people, the threat of West Nile virus from a mosquito bite may be the scariest danger they'll face this summer.

West Nile virus (WNV) causes bird disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Humans, horses and other mammals may also be infected. In people, the most serious symptom of WNV infection is inflammation of the brain that can cause brain damage or death.

South Dakota has had nine human infections of the illness so far this year, and the WNV season is just heating up. The risk of contracting WNV is highest from mid-July to mid-August.

Last year, the state had 113 reported human cases of WNV and three deaths from it. Since 2002, South Dakota has reported 1,469 cases of WNV, including 20 deaths, but the incidence of WNV in South Dakota has fallen dramatically from 2003, when it sickened more than 1,000 people in the state and caused 14 deaths.

Controlling WNV as a public health threat is a success story for state and federal health agencies.

The South Dakota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control have used public education to good effect. Government-funded mosquito surveillance and control programs have helped WNV numbers fall nationwide and prevented the epidemic some predicted. The mosquito-borne illness peaked in 2003 in the United States at about 10,000 cases, and has fallen steadily ever since.

Public health officials have done their part to keep us all safer from WNV.

Now, we need to do our part.

* Don't give mosquitoes a place to breed by eliminating standing water sources.

* Limit your time outdoors at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

* Use repellant and wear appropriate clothes when outdoors.

Taking personal responsibility to protect ourselves and our loved ones from mosquito bites is the best summertime safety tip.