Gregg Bustamante, with the Pima County Health Department, hangs a mosquito trap on the west side of the Santa Cruz River near Speedway.

benjie sanders / arizona daily star

Related articles:

Pima County: First case of West Nile virus this season confirmed West Nile confirmed in Pima woman

Other articles by Erica Meltzer:

County to cut 23 workers in planning, permit areaD-backs looking to leave here; Rockies, too County elections praised as well-run County accepts $5M for White Sox to leave cityPima County accepts White Sox buyout offerWhite Sox offer $5M to break Tucson dealWhite Sox offer county $5M to leave Tucson County seeks auction to save Tumamoc Hill County planning $10M in budget cuts Cleaning up landfill seems a possibility in preserving Tumamoc

Health Care
SOUTHERN ARIZONA ENDODONTICS I
NSURANCE PROCESSOR Education
Yavapai College
Teachers General
Prestige Maintenance USA
Area Manager Technical
Yavapai College
Analyst Banner Programmer General
GROUNDS CONTROL
LANDCAPE FOREMAN & LABORERS Dental
Apache Dental
Porcelain Techs Retail
TOTAL WINE & MORE
WINE TEAM MEMBERS, CASHIER & STOCK MEMEBERS

Teams of inspectors have been busy treating stagnant pools for mosquitoes in the week since the county identified its first human case of West Nile virus this year.

"The complaints are rising, and we're seeing a lot of green pools," said Pima County Health Department spokeswoman Patti Woodcock.

She said while mosquito complaints are not "off the charts," they are increasing. Earlier in the summer, frequent monsoon storms flushed out standing water before mosquito eggs could hatch.

The break in the rains earlier this month gave them ample time to develop and seek out their meals, she said.

The tiny mosquitoes known as "ankle biters" that have been driving area residents crazy the last week don't carry the virus, Woodcock said, they're "just very, very annoying."

Still, the county Health Department is bracing for what may be a bad year for the mosquito-borne disease because the first human West Nile case showed up two weeks earlier than it did last year.

Woodcock said health officials aren't sure whether the case was caught earlier because people are more aware of the disease and more doctors recommend testing, or if we are at the start of a severe West Nile season.

Those infected with West Nile may experience no symptoms or problems ranging from mild to extreme fever, fatigue, headaches, neck pain, and in some cases skin rash on the trunk.

About 20 percent of those infected will develop West Nile fever, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says.

The illness can run from a few days to several weeks, but in severe cases the neurological damage can be permanent.

Onset of the disease usually occurs within two to 15 days after the bite by an infected mosquito.

Federal health officials believe four out of five people infected experience no symptoms, so an accurate count of people infected likely will never be known.

The West Nile season runs until early November.

Woodcock and Beth Gorman of the county Department of Environmental Quality said the county's stockpile of old tires at its tire disposal facility near Ina Road and I-10, which has drawn some public notice as a potential breeding area, isn't really a problem.

The tires normally don't stay at the site long enough for mosquito eggs to hatch, they said, and the large number of tires generate a lot of heat, which makes any standing water inside them too hot for mosquitoes.

Nonetheless, workers there use mosquito dunks, which kill larvae in standing water before they mature.