Third resident to die of West Nile was quintessential grandmother

BY EMILY HAGEDORN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: ehagedorn@bakersfield.com | Sunday, Aug 19 2007 10:35 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Aug 19 2007 10:51 PM

Brian Branson has racked his brains over where his mother could have gotten the West Nile virus.

Audrey Branson's neighborhood near Rosedale Highway isn't by water nor do any of the other residents have standing water around their homes, he said.

The 76-year-old would usually only go outside when she wanted some fresh air on her front porch, and she never complained of mosquito bites.

Audrey Branson, of Bakersfield, died Aug. 7 and is the third Kern County resident to succumb to West Nile virus this year.

"There's no water. There's nothing," said Brian Branson, 47, of Bakersfield. "That's kind of the kicker: Where did she get it?"

Audrey Branson's hobby was her 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, Brian Branson said.

"She wasn't really their grandma; she was their friend," he said. "If somebody needed something, she would sit and listen to them."

He remembers her riding on the back of his father's motorcycle and family trips to Las Vegas.

"She made the best turkey gravy in the world at Thanksgiving," he said.

His father, Bill, died about a year and a half ago from lung cancer, and since then, Audrey Branson had pretty much stayed at home.

She mentioned a desire to go to Disneyland a few weeks ago when she had gone to Brian Branson's home for dinner, which delighted the family.
Then she got sick with flu-like symptoms, he said.

"It was like she got the flu and kept getting sicker and sicker," he said. "She was fine and within two weeks she was dead. That's the crazy part."

Toward the end, she was disoriented. "She just kind of laid there and stared at the walls.

"It just really got her," he said. "It just beat her up enough that she needed a feeding tube in her."

West Nile virus is transmitted to humans and animals by the bite of an infected mosquito. Historically, most cases are asymptomatic, but some people may experience fever, headache, body aches, rash and even life-threatening infections and death.
Statewide, 120 people have been infected by the virus, with 64 cases in Kern County -- the most of any county in the state, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Kern County having the most cases of any place in the country.

Audrey Branson died on the day she predicted her newest great-grandchild would be born, said daughter-in-law Sherri Branson. It was also Audrey and Bill Branson's 59th wedding anniversary.

"In a weird way, she's back with my dad," Brian Branson said. "Knowing they're back together, eases it a little bit."
To avoid getting West Nile, according to local and state agencies, residents should:
• Eliminate all sources of stagnant or standing water where mosquitoes can breed.
• Avoid being outdoors at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear long sleeves and long pants while outdoors whenever possible.
• Use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus according to label instructions.
• Make sure the doors and windows in your home have tight-fitting screens with no holes or tears.
• Contact your mosquito abatement district if there is a significant mosquito problem where you live or work for a supply of mosquito fish to control larvae in troughs and ponds or to report an abandoned, stagnant swimming pool. Call the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District at 589-2744, Westside Mosquito Abatement District at 763-3510, Delano Mosquito Abatement District at 725-3114 or South Fork Mosquito Abatement District at 760-376-4268.
• Call the state toll-free hot line at 877-WNV-BIRD (877-968-2473) upon finding a dead bird or squirrel.
• Consult veterinarians to properly vaccinate horses.
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