Overview
- The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the state's first human West Nile infection this year in a Harris County resident, with officials announcing the case on Tuesday.
- Multiple Texas counties including Bexar, Brazoria, Dallas, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Tarrant have reported mosquito pools that tested positive for West Nile, and Harris County has logged both a positive mosquito sample and the human case.
- DuPage County, Illinois, has confirmed West Nile–positive mosquito pools found in Roselle, Glendale Heights and Wheaton, though no human cases have been reported there so far.
- Health agencies urged simple prevention steps — dump standing water from containers, repair screens, wear long sleeves at dawn and dusk, and apply EPA‑registered repellents such as DEET or picaridin — and said local mosquito control may use larvicides or adulticides when necessary.
- Public health officials noted that about 80% of infected people show no symptoms, roughly 20% develop fever, and less than 1% progress to neuroinvasive disease, and they warned that early detections are a seasonal warning not proof of a large outbreak.