Virus claims fourth in Kern

BY EMILY HAGEDORN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: ehagedorn@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, Aug 28 2007 10:30 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Aug 28 2007 10:36 PM

West Nile virus cases and deaths continue to mount in Kern County, making it the epicenter of the disease nationwide.

The fourth Kern death, a 93-year-old Lamont man, died Friday and was confirmed to have West Nile Tuesday, the county Department of Public Health announced.

The man has been identified as Lorenzo Velarde, but family members couldn't be reached for comment.

This is the 10th death statewide from the mosquito-borne virus, the state Department of Public Health reports.

Figures released Tuesday by the state health department show that 164 people have been sickened in the state this year, with 91 of those in Kern County.
The county has seen 13 more cases over the last week.

Kern County still has the most cases in the state. The counties with the next highest numbers of cases are Fresno and Stanislaus with 10 each, the state health department says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also show Kern leading the country for cases.

Results of spraying
Monday marked the two-week mark since the county last sprayed pesticide over metropolitan Bakersfield.

The county health department hopes to see a decrease in cases from the spraying in the next week but admits the swimming pools abandoned in the recent real estate downturn make this season's fight "uncharted territory" for them, said Dr. Boyce Dulan, deputy county health officer and director of disease control.

"We now have this incubator (the pools) that doesn't have a lid on it," he said. "Also it doesn't look like people are taking this situation seriously."

Personal prevention is the key to fighting the bite, he said. To get repellent into the hands of residents, the county received a donation of Cutter repellent wipes last week, which it will be distributing around town, he said.

Dulan also stressed that while deaths have been limited to seniors, the virus has hit every age group, the majority being people between the ages of 30 and 60. And while most people show no symptoms, West Nile can cause coma, tremors, paralysis, life-threatening infections and death. Symptoms can also last for several months.
"We may have some more bad news if people don't put into practice every prevention," he said.

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