Wharton County reports first West Nile death; Sugar Land first case

The West Nile virus has claimed the life of a Wharton County man, the latest victim of the most severe outbreak of the mosquito-borne illness ever recorded in Texas.

In addition to the elderly El Campo man's death, confirmed by U.S. health officials late Wednesday, Sugar Land on Thursday reported its first case of the disease, though officials gave no details. The two cases were the latest developments in what is typically the disease's peak time in the Gulf Coast region.

Texas is accounting for more than half of an outbreak that officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say is on pace to become the nation's most severe since 1999, when West Nile first appeared in the United States. The first Houston cases were reported in 2002.

In numbers that lag behind local statistics, Texas is reporting 640 cases so far this year, 200 more than its previous high in 2003 and more than 600 more than the number for all of last year.

CDC expert Dr. Lyle Pedersen couldn't explain why the virus has exploded in Texas, particularly in the Dallas area.

"Oftentimes West Nile virus is a very local disease - you can have a lot of cases in one area (which) has a lot to do with the local ecology of that area," Pedersen said.

Dallas County, which recently began its first aerial spraying in 45 years, is reporting 278 cases, while Tarrant County reports 218. State records show 207 and 162 cases, respectively, in those counties because of a lag in reporting local data to the state.

Local numbers did not change Thursday. Harris County is still reporting 19 cases and three deaths.

Andy Kirkland, emergency management coordinator for Wharton County, said the county is waiting for confirmation of another suspected case. In the aftermath of the county's first death, he said, officials will begin employing mosquito surveillance traps to determine whether to step up spraying of insecticides.

Kirkland said the county was already truck-spraying for mosquitoes that are considered more a nuisance than a West Nile threat, but now needs to consider aerial spraying.

Harris County Wednesday conducted aerial spraying in 63 acres on its western and northern sides. It conducts such spraying every August.

Nationally, at least 1,118 illnesses have been reported so far, four times the usual number of cases this time of year.

todd.ackerman@chron.com