COLORADO — The city of Fort Collins asked residents to remain indoors with their windows closed while it spayed for mosquitos over the weekend.
This comes amid positive human West Nile virus test results being collected in Colorado in places like Larimer, Pueblo, La Plata, and El Paso counties. The mosquito population is ten times larger than normal for this time of year, according to Fort Collins' West Nile Prevention.
"We get into the time of year where the two species, of the ten that we have that do carry West Nile Virus, really start to ramp up. That's the time period that we're in right now," said Matt Parker with ort Collins' West Nile Prevention.
West Nile symptoms to watch out for include:
- High fever
- Headache
- Neck stiffness
- Stupor
- Disorientation
- Coma
- Tremors
- Convulsions
- Muscle weakness
- Vision loss
- Numbness
- Paralysis
Most people, however, do not develop any symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Mosquito bites can be avoided by:
- Not going outside at dawn or dusk
- Draining standing water
- Using insect repellent
- Wearing long loose fitting clothes
- Using screens on windows
- Using air conditioning
More information on avoiding mosquito bites can be found on the CDC's website.
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