State officials report fifth Missourian dies of West Nile

ST. LOUIS -- A 76-year-old suburban St. Louis man has died of the West Nile virus, bringing to five Missouri's death toll from the mosquito-borne illness, state health officials said Thursday.

The latest victim, a Hazelwood man whose name was not immediately released, died Oct. 5, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and a St. Louis County Health Department official said.

Missouri's other victims included an 88-year-old St. Charles man, who died Oct. 6; the state's three other fatalities -- ages 77, 75 and 61 -- all were from St. Louis, dating to early August.

As of Thursday, the state said, 161 Missourians have been sickened by the virus.

Nationwide, there have been at least 3,346 known human cases of West Nile, including 183 deaths, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The disease first appeared in the United States in 1999 in New York City and has gradually spread west.

Most people infected with West Nile show no symptoms. Some may have a fever, or aches of the head or body. But others -- particularly those who are older or have weakened immune systems -- may contract encephalitis, a brain swelling that sometimes can be fatal.

People should wear mosquito repellant with DEET and cover exposed skin while avoiding the outdoors at dusk, early evening and dawn, health officials said.

Although it's getting colder outside, the threat of exposure to the virus remains until the first hard frost kills mosquitos, health officials said.

In the St. Louis area -- by far Missouri's leader in West Nile cases -- the number of reported infections has declined appreciably in recent weeks with the arrival of chillier weather, said Steve Fine, St. Louis County Health Department's chief of the division of public health and ancillary services.

"But as the cold weather comes along and we get a couple of cold, hard freezes, we should see this end for the season," he said.

Such freezes may not come until a week from Friday around St. Louis, where there have been scattered reports of frost but "not a killing freeze (below 28 degrees), which is what we really need" to snuff out the mosquitoes, National Weather Service meteorologist Dale Bechtold said.

Since Oct. 1, he said, the area has had just five days in which lows dipped below 40 degrees.

"I don't know how active the mosquitoes are right now. Colder weather certainly makes them more sluggish, but I guess they're not dead," he said.

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On the Net

Missouri health department: http://www.dhss.state.mo.us/WestNileVirus

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov