PHOENIX — A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concludes 2021 was the worst year ever, by far, for West Nile virus in Maricopa County.
According to the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Maricopa County had 1,487 cases of West Nile in 2021, 101 of them fatal.
West Nile is a mosquito-borne disease that can affect the brain and spinal cord.
Most patients never develop symptoms, but the disease can be fatal.
The year 2021 was also a wet monsoon year and at the time, public health officials warned of the possibility of a high West Nile season.
“It did take us all little by surprise, the magnitude of that spike," Melissa Kertschmer with Maricopa County Public Health said. "It reminds people of the potential severity of the illness and also the effect could have on our health care system."
Maricopa County Vector Control uses fogging trucks to tackle the mosquito problem in neighborhoods where outbreaks happen. But officials said they don't want it to get that far.
“By [the] time we have to fog the streets," John Townsend with Maricopa County Vector Control said, "the horse is out of the corral.”
Townsend said mosquito control should start with residents, who can check for standing water and mosquito eggs and eliminate them before they hatch.
CDC officials said those numbers show the need for more public education and prevention.
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