JACKSON - Jack Lander first became ill while he was working in the yard last month.
"I was trying to cut some stuff and I just couldn't do it," Lander recalled of his first encounter with the West Nile virus. "It really kind of hit me all at once - the whole package in one lick."
That was only the beginning for Lander, a 73-year-old retired band director from Moss Point. He checked into the emergency room Oct. 12 and was given medication for dizziness. A few days later, his wife, Day, took him back to the hospital - with a fever over 103.
"By the time he got to the doctor and was admitted to the hospital, he could hardly walk - he shuffled in like an old, old man," Day Lander said. "All he could say when asked anything was 'I don't know. I don't know."'
"He's sicker now than when he had a triple bypass eight years ago," she said.
Lander is still weak, but he's recovering after an eight-day stay in the hospital. A spinal tap confirmed he had contracted the West Nile virus.
State epidemiologist Sally Slavinski said the season for the mosquito transmitted virus is tapering off, but said last year a West Nile case was reported as late as December.
Still, Slavinski said this season was milder than last year, when the first human cases were reported in Mississippi.
Two deaths and 72 human cases of the disease had been reported in Mississippi, as of today. Last year, a total 12 deaths and more than 180 cases were reported statewide.
"In Mississippi, we can expect to see it year to year, but to the same degree, we hope we won't," Slavinski said. "We hope it's going to keep declining."
Day Lander said she wouldn't wish the virus on her worst enemy and has been warning others to take precautions.
"I blabbed to everyone I talk to spray their kids so slick with repellent that mosquitoes slide right off of them," she said.
The virus, which mainly affects birds, is transmitted by mosquitoes from bird to bird, and to mammals.
Slavinski said the virus, which has been in the United States for five years, is too new to predict what its pattern will be next year.
Nationwide this year, there have been nearly 8,400 human cases in 44 states and 184 deaths, compared to 4,156 human cases last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
In most cases, those infected by West Nile virus experience only mild, flu-like symptoms. But the virus also can trigger dangerous, and sometimes lethal, cases of meningitis and encephalitis.
The virus has been particularly bad in the Great Plains and some Western states, with Colorado reporting the most cases - at least 2,477, according to the CDC.
"It comes down to the number of infected mosquitoes that come into contact with humans," said Anthony Marfin, a medical epidemiologist for CDC in Fort Collins, Colo.
Marfin said conditions this summer were "very favorable for the primary mosquito vector out here in the West to be a very efficient transmitter of the virus."
Slavinski said environmental factors played a role in the reduction in West Nile cases this year, and heightened awareness may have helped as well.
The state Department of Health started its "Fight the Bite" campaign against West Nile with focus groups before the mosquito season started, and recently followed up with telephone surveys of over 800 people, she said.
The campaign worked with local officials on mosquito eradication and spreading information. It also used the media to educate people about West Nile prevention measures, such as removing standing water where mosquitoes breed from around their homes and wearing protective clothing and mosquito repellant containing DEET.
From a brief review of the survey, "it looks like a relatively successful campaign," Slavinksi said.
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