Baltimore County Health Officials Confirm West Nile Case

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore County health workers have confirmed one case of West Nile virus. Now county leaders are taking extra steps to wipe out infected mosquitos. But as Gigi Barnett reports, the county is asking residents to protect themselves, as well.

Mary Wright is reclaiming her backyard garden in Milford Mill this fall. This weekend, she's digging up weeds and steering clear of mosquitos.

"I'm very vigilant because I don't come out of the house without my little bugger of some kind of spray on me," she said.

Baltimore County health workers are issuing a warning to neighbors in the Milford Mill area.

"We do have one West Nile virus case in the county that has been identified," said Monique Lyle, Baltimore County Health Department.

Now the Department of Agriculture is bringing out its spray trucks later in the week to wipe out infected mosquitos. In the meantime, health workers are urging neighbors to wear long-sleeve clothing, use bug repellant and remove standing water.

"If I see any water in something that I can't lift or move, I just pour some bleach in it to kill the larvae," Wright said.

Health workers in north Texas are seeing a spike of West Nile cases. The mosquito-borne illness has killed more than 35 people there so far this year. Health workers here say many times, the flu-like symptoms never show up.

"One of the providers told me that sometimes they'll get reports from Red Cross because someone went to donate blood and when they do their testing, they'll find West Nile," Lyle said.

The county plans to spray the Milford Mill area on September 6 and 13 at dusk, which is sometime around 7:30 p.m. They're asking residents to stay indoors while they work.

Health workers say West Nile symptoms are similar to flu symptoms with headaches, fever and body aches.