West River Eagle

“No West Nile Virus cases on Cheyenne River,” says CRST Health Educator



Despite a social media post from the Eagle Butte Mosquito Control Facebook page, there have been no confirmed cases of West Nile Virus on Cheyenne River, said CRST Health Educator Harold Tiger.

The Facebook post reads, “Our park personnel reported that IHS had received confirmation of their first West Nile case several weeks ago. Since then, we have learned of a second confirmation of West Nile in Eagle Butte as of last week. Not certain of the tally for all reported cases to date, but it appears there are at least two.”

A CRST Field Health Clinic nurse corroborated Tiger’s statement and said that her department has received no reports from the South Dakota Department of Health of any West Nile Virus (WNV) cases within the area.

“The state will usually send us a report that we send to the Field Clinic and then work with them to inform the public, but there are no cases so far,” said the nurse.

The Center for Disease Control website states that as of June 11, 2019, there have been no West Nile Virus activity within South Dakota.

Last week, the Tribal Prairie Management Program initiated the mosquito abatement treatment and the staff has been sampling standing water for the different types of mosquito carriers of both the WNV and Zika virus.

“It is very rare that West Nile starts in the middle of June, especially with the late winter snowfall we had this year. The recent heavy rains really pounded them [mosquitoes] as well. The mosquito carrier doesn’t really come out full force until the middle of July,” said Mike Claymore of Prairie Management.

Claymore highly recommended the public to regularly visit the South Dakota Department of Health and the South Dakota Mosquito Information Systems websites for updated information.

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