West Nile virus online resources

There are West Nile virus deaths and illnesses reported in several states this year, but Texas has been hit hardest. As a result, Dallas and most surrounding cities have decided to move forward with aerial spraying.

You may be looking for more information about West Nile virus, mosquitoes, and what you can do to help prevent both. Here are some resources that may help.

Dallas-area information:

• The city of Dallas is posting maps about aerial mosquito spraying and links to West Nile virus information at the city website.
• The WFAA-Channel 8 Health pages are being updated with news stories and briefs as information is released by various health and city officials. 

2012 West Nile virus information:

• The Centers for Disease Control West Nile has an infections by state table:
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount12_detailed.htm
• The U.S. Geological Survey has an infection map posted (current as of Aug. 14, 2012): http://diseasemaps.usgs.gov/wnv_us_human.html

One way to stay abreast of related news is to create alerts from various databases.

• Google Alerts will send you news stories relating to various searches. Go to Google Alerts and enter your search terms, an email address, and how often you'd like to receive emailed alerts.
• The National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus also has a news alert option. Go the West Nile Virus page and scroll down to the box labeled "Get West NileVirus updates by email." Simply enter your email address and press the "Go" button.