we visited Regina and Saskatoon this summer and there was mention in the news of some west nile
however since coming home and seeing news it seems to have really escalated , and theres been sevaral deaths
admittedly older folk who were already weak

how wide spread is this

do you know anyone who had it ?
whats it like how bad


is the government doing anything

What do you do to protect yourself ?

Goatee:scared:

Hiya - haven't reached Canada shores yet (not 'til next year) but I can tell you some of things we're being told in the US which experiences similar problems. West Nile can be spread by mozzies from infected birds. The symptoms are similar to flu' but often just pass after feeling slightly unwell for a few days - only a very small proportion of people will go on to develop a meningitus type reaction which could be fatal, for instance the latest figures for the whole of the US shows out of 6204 human cases so far, only 127 deaths have been reported. (The people more prone to secondary problems are the elderly, or those with reduced ability to fight infections such as during chemo. therapy). The prevention would be similar to preventing Malaria in Asia or Africa - ie avoid going out at dusk, avoid areas of water where mosquitoes could be breeding, change bird baths or standing water regularly and protect yourself with insect repellant etc. (Most of the houses in the US have bug guards on all windows so Canada would have a similar thing either fitted as standard or if not easily available in stores). We recently had a case in our local vicinity and they came and put some blue dye in the water (as we have a pond nearby) which kills the mosquito lavae and I've heard from someone in Winnipeg they have a scheme to control the mosquito population there also. If I find out more I'll let you know!

Addendum - this may be useful - a site taken from the Sasketchwan governement which lists cases up to Oct 2003 and if you scroll down there's some symptoms to look out for. (Plus gives tips on how to avoid mozzie bites). They're also checking cases of birds and horses carrying the disease and keeping an eye on mozzie ridden ponds so looks like they're keeping things monitored. Hope it's a help! http://www.health.gov.sk.ca/rr_wnv_testresults.html

All the people - I think there might have been about 6 of them - who died of West Nile in Saskatchewan were 75 years of age and older. Some of them had pre-existing conditions. I don't think any of them were young people. Because we had such a dry summer - or maybe because the City were spraying standing water etc. we had very very few mosquitos this summer. I got bitten a couple of times but I didn't get West Nile.

I think younger people did get West Nile and were very sick - a few landed up in hospital but nobody younger died. You were constantly warned to wear mosquito spray outside. I often forgot but I did keep my eyes open and if I was going out into the country - camping or whatever - then I definitely would have sprayed. I also would wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt.

Hi Liz - do the Canadians houses have bug guards? They seem to be standard here - a real pain to clean but I guess its necessary to shut out all the nasties when the windows are open!

Yes, all our windows have screens on them to keep the bugs out. I tend to take them out and hose them down every so often. They do get kind of dusty but I assume they also keep some of the dust out.

So far as offices go - I would guess that about 100% of offices have air conditioning so the windows cannot or do not open.