HURON – With the summer season winding down, the risk of West Nile virus transmission has fallen to about half of the peak, state epidemiologist Dr. Joshua Clayton said in his latest update.
“We expect around six counties to report cases this week,” he said Thursday. “Last week there was some indication that mosquito infections might continue to rise, but this week mosquito infections fell back to exactly average for this point in the year and we do not anticipate any surprises as the season begins to wind down.”
The week’s estimate of total cases for 2018 is now 119, down five cases predicted a week ago.
Clayton points to two influences: The mosquito infection rate this week was almost exactly what was predicted by the model, and the state has returned to average humidity.

The city of Huron has been spraying streets, alleys and recreation facilities on a regular basis. The latest spraying came Thursday night.
Spraying has proven to be successful in sharply reducing the mosquito population in the city, however, the number of Culex Tarsalis mosquitoes, which are carriers of the West Nile virus, is high so there is more of a chance people could be bitten by a positive mosquito.
“The counts from the last time that we did before and after counts we had 84 percent Culex Tarsalis after the count,” Parks and Recreation Director Ron Klock said.
He said the city typically continues spraying until a week after the State Fair or until the first hard frost.
According to the state Department of Health, there have now been 41 human cases of the virus. That is up from 27 the week before. The median age is 53.
Thirteen people have been hospitalized and there have been two deaths.