Protect yourself

Prevention goes a long way in reducing your risk of contracting West Nile virus.

•Avoid being bitten. Apply insect repellant to exposed skin whenever outdoors, even for a short time. Wear long sleeves, long pants and socks and spray skin and clothing during the peak mosquito-biting times of dusk to dawn. Mosquitoes may bite through clothing.

•Mosquito-proof your home. Drain standing water. Turn over pots, buckets, children’s wading pools, pet bowls and trash containers, and drain holes in rubber tires. Empty or change water in birdbaths weekly. Keep swimming pools chlorinated and make sure filter is operating. Even a small jar of water can become a mosquito breeding ground.

•Install and repair window and door screens.

•Organize a neighborhood cleanup program to discard empty containers and to increase awareness.

•Report dead birds and potential mosquito-breeding concerns to authorities.

•Horse owners should contact their veterinarians as soon as possible to have horses properly vaccinated. Signs of West Nile virus include stumbling, staggering, wobbling, weakness, muscle twitching and inability to stand. Horses contract the disease from carrier mosquitoes and are not contagious to other horses or people. Not every horse exposed to the virus will die.