MOSQUITO CONTROL PRODUCTS

Mosquito Control Products

NEW Mosquito Products

Mosquito Traps

Mosquito Magnet

Personal Mosquito Repellant Devices

Mosquito Netting and Screens

Mosquito Dunks

Mosquito Repellant

Mosquito Net Clothes

Mosquito Bat Houses

West Nile Virus

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause a range of symptoms of varying severity in humans. Many people with the virus either don't have symptoms or have only a mild illness.

However West Nile virus may be serious and may include:

• encephalitis — inflammation of the brain
• meningitis — inflammation of the membranes and fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord

West Nile virus was first detected in Uganda in 1937. It has spread throughout:

• Asia
• the Middle East
• Europe
• Russia
• India
• Indonesia

and as of 1999 to the United States and Canada.

The virus has spread in the United States along the migratory patterns of birds. Wild and domestic birds, mainly crows, are the primary reservoirs for the West Nile virus. When a mosquito bites a bird infected with the West Nile virus, the virus enters the mosquito's salivary glands and incubates there for 10 to 14 days. When the infected mosquito bites an animal or human, the virus is passed into the host's bloodstream, where it may cause illness.

Common signs and symptoms of West Nile virus infection include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Backache
• Skin rash
• Swollen lymph glands

It takes from 5 to 15 days' incubation after you've been bitten by an infected mosquito before signs and symptoms of the illness appear.