High Levels Of West Nile Virus In Illinois
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the Zika Virus. Unlike Zika, West Nile Virus is in mosquitoes here in Illinois and the state is seeing human cases of West Nile much earlier than last year.
Illinois' first human case of West Nile last year didn't come until August 19. This year it was reported on June 6, WBBM's Steve Miller reports.
Samples of mosquitos in Cook County are starting to show high levels of West Nile.
Paul Geery is a biologist with the Des Plaines Valley Mosquito Abatement District, covering 77 square miles in western Cook County.
"It's kind of above the last couple years," Geery said. "Not by a huge amount, but enough that is has us concerned."
As of now, the state is only reporting four human cases of West Nile. The closest case to the Chicago area is in Grundy County.
"We're kind of right at that point in the year where we could start seeing human cases start to show up," Geery said.