West Nile Death in Titus County

MT. PLEASANT — A Titus County resident has died of West Nile neuroinvasive disease, the sole fatality in Texas attributed to the mosquito-borne illness since Friday, the last day statistics were released by the Texas Department of State Health Services. According to KETK and the Longview news-Journal, the latest East Texas death brings the state death toll from West Nile illnesses to 58. There have been no new cases of West Nile fever or West Nile neuroinvasive disease reported in any East Texas counties since Friday. The state health department on Monday reported 1,276 cases of West Nile disease, up 38 cases since Friday, including 21 new cases of West Nile fever and 17 new cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease.

Despite the death in Titus County, overall the numbers are beginning to slow. The slowing rates, combined with cooler temperatures, has the city of Longview’s Environmental Health Supervisor Buck Farrar cautiously optimistic that the season for illness is nearing an end. “I would suspect that our mosquito problem is beginning to dissipate,” Farrar said.