COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – As bad as the mosquitoes have been this summer in Branch County and Southwest Michigan, you had to know it was just a matter of time. Health officials have been testing mosquitoes for West Nile virus and have finally produced a positive sample this weekin Kent County.
Health officials say finding West Nile in mosquitoes is one step short of finding them in Humans. Normally the virus is spread by birds that fly into the area with the virus. Mosquitoes bite them and become infected and then they bite a human, spreading to the new species. Many humans already are immune from previous exposures or their immune system is strong enough to kill off the virus without symptoms. A small percentage do get sick, and an even smaller percentage get extremely sick and die.
So far 92 people have died in Michigan since the virus first appeared here in 2002.
