West Nile Virus has been detected in people, blood donations or mosquitoes in 11 South Dakota counties.
The human cases are in Buffalo and Minnehaha counties. Positive blood donations have been found in Spink, Minnehaha, Hand, Faulk, Potter and Todd counties. Mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile Virus have been found in Stanley, Beadle, Brown, Brookings and Minnehaha counties.
State epidemiologist Dr. Josh Clayton reminds people to take steps to reduce their exposure to mosquitoes.
He says health officials expect there to be almost 150 human cases of West Nile Virus in South Dakota this year.
By comparison, Dr. Clayton says last year there were 73 human cases of West Nile in South Dakota.
Dr. Clayton says just because West Nile Virus hasn’t been detected where you live, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
(Dakota Radio Group)