DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) – From the ground and by air, North Texas is trying to bite back against mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus.

So far this year, there have been nearly 800 cases of the illness and 22 deaths in a ten-county area in North Texas.

Dr. Don Read says the number of people affected, “is beyond our wildest expectations.”

The virus nearly killed the Dallas colorectal surgeon seven years ago. When he recovered, Dr. Read formed a support group. Now, because of all the cases this year, he’s re-starting the group next week.

“It’s very important to me because when I had it, my wife couldn’t find out about anything about it,” recalled Dr. Read. “Nobody seemed to know anything about it.”

As a result of his illness Dr. Read was paralyzed, and had to learn to walk and write again.

So he knows just what to tell others. “Yes, I was paralyzed, I was in a wheelchair, I had to learn how to walk, you’re going to get better, you may not be completely well, but you are going to get better than you are now.”

Four years ago, Claire McCall became paralyzed from West Nile Virus and encephalitis. She now walks with a cane, and to this day, still has tremors, pain, and fatigue.
McCall said she plans to join Dr. Read’s support group, because he helped her back then.

“It really helps you to know that one, you’re not alone in how you feel, emotionally, physically, mentally,” McCall said. “As the caregiver, I think caregivers suffer from caregiver fatigue.”

According to Dr. Read, the mosquitoes will be with us through the end of October. So he continues to urge people to take precautions against the West Nile Virus.
After all the reports and confirmed deaths, Dr. Read believes the public has gotten the message.

“Before that, I think the general public thinks they’re 17 and bulletproof. It’s not going to happen to me. I indeed had a lot of mosquito bites over the years. They never bothered me ‘til this one, and this one bothered me a lot.”

The first meet of the West Nile Virus Support Group will take place on September 10, 2012. The meeting will be held at Medical City Hospital, in the City Hall Auditorium on the 2nd floor of E Tower and begins at 6 p.m.

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DENTON COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) – County officials say aerial spraying will continue on Sunday night in an effort to kill mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.

On Sunday Bob Martinez with Denton County Emergency Services released a statement that said starting at 9 p.m. planes will target areas that were not sprayed Friday or Saturday night. The spraying is expected to last until 2 a.m.

Spraying is scheduled for Southlake, Westlake, Roanoke, Trophy Club, Sanger, Flower Mound south of Farm to Market 1171, Lewisville south of Bus 121, the southern half of Castle Hills, portions of Haslet and unincorporated Denton County surrounding Sanger.

County officials say spraying will only take place in the targeted areas.

For more information about Denton County’s effort to combat West Nile virus you can visit their website or call their West Nile virus hotline (940) 349-2907.

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DENTON, Texas (AP) — Areas north of Dallas-Fort Worth will receive aerial spraying this weekend as local governments continue to try to stop the spread of West Nile virus.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that some parts of Denton County were not sprayed as scheduled due to strong winds. Spraying is scheduled to resume Saturday at 9 p.m.

Parts of Southlake, Flower Mound, Lewisville and Haslet still need to be sprayed.

Much of the Dallas-Fort Worth area has been sprayed after one of the nation’s worst outbreaks of West Nile virus. The death toll this season is at least 22.

Mosquitoes spread the virus from birds to people. Symptoms include moderate to high fever and severe pain in the head, muscles, joints and eyes. Severe symptoms include neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.

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(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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Photo Credit: AP

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LEWISVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) - The number of human West Nile virus cases in Texas has doubled to nearly 900 in only two weeks, and a man in Rowlett died this week to bring the total number of deaths this season to 21 in the DFW area. With those tragic statistics in mind, Denton County will start aerial spraying on Thursday night for mosquitos carrying the virus.

The decision to conduct aerial spraying came after cases spiked across southern parts of Denton County, and health officials declared an emergency. Portions of Dallas County were sprayed by air a couple weeks ago, and the move seems to be working.

Denton County has about 30 cities participating in Thursday night’s spraying, including Lewisville. Dallas, Carrollton and Coppell opted into Dallas County’s aerial spraying and will not be part of the Denton County effort. Denton, Frisco and The Colony have all opted out of aerial spraying. They will be passed over during the air attack. Click here for a full list of participating cities.

The initiative is set to start at 9:00 p.m. and continue through 2:00 a.m. for Thursday and Friday nights, weather permitting.

While much of the nation is battling the West Nile virus — 43 of the 50 states have reported instances of the illness — nowhere is worse than here in Texas. About 56 percent of all U.S. cases have been found in this state. Still, the chance of someone getting the virus is relatively small. With almost 900 cases reported, given the Texas population, there is just a one in 28,600 chance that a mosquito bite will pass the illness to an individual.

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Photo Credit: Getty Images/All Canada Photos

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