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Vigo County health staff report cyclospora surveillance and no West Nile positives yet; residents urged to wash produce
Summary
Public-health staff told the board they are monitoring a multistate cyclospora outbreak (Shelby cited CDC counts of 1,645 reported U.S. cases and 141 hospitalizations at the time) and that vector-control staff have tested 29 mosquito pools with no West Nile positives so far; officials urged standard hygiene and safe-food practices.
County public-health staff updated the board on ongoing infectious-disease surveillance and vector-control activities. Doctor Rookin said staff are monitoring a cyclospora outbreak across the Midwest and reminded people to “wash your produce and wash your hands.” He said there had been an uptick in hospitalizations among older residents in the outbreak but that staff were not aware of any local hospitalizations at the time of the meeting.
Shelby, health educator, summarized CDC figures she had reviewed: she reported 1,645 cases reported to the CDC, more than 5,000 tests still pending confirmation, 141 hospitalizations and zero deaths across 34 states at the time she checked. Shelby cautioned that CDC state dashboards list ranges for some states and numbers can change as pending tests are confirmed.
Mike in Vector Control said his team had distributed about 5,200 mosquito-safety coloring books to elementary students, deployed an iPad-based route/tracking system for spray teams, and sent 29 mosquito pools for West Nile testing with no positive pools detected so far. He said weather conditions (rainfall patterns) influence Culex mosquito breeding and he expects surveillance to continue through the summer.
Board members also raised whether Ebola preparedness steps remain in place; a staff participant said CDC notification processes and quarantine options remain available and noted that Union Hospital has previously been designated as an Ebola assessment hospital.
Officials emphasized personal prevention steps and said they will continue to monitor state and CDC updates.
