The Medical Officer of Health for Manitoba says it's time to take mosquitoes seriously even though there have not been many of them so far this year. Dr. Brent Roussin says that's because mosquitoes infected with West Nile Virus turned up last week in traps in Steinbach and Niverville. He adds there have been no human cases of the virus in the province this year and we need to be proactive to keep it that way.

Dr. Roussin advises taking precautions to avoid mosquito bites."Knowing that the virus is present, we should always ensure that we're taking preventive measures to protect ourselves. Apply an appropriate insect repellent when you are outside, we should be wearing light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing, ensuring we have long sleeves and pant legs. It's ideal if we can reduce our time spent outdoors between dusk and dawn because that's when the culex tarsalis mosquito is most active."

Dr. Roussin notes there have not been many mosquitoes so far this year and hopes that people don't become careless in protecting themselves again bites. He says the symptoms of West Nile Virus cover a broad spectrum.

"People who might be infected with West Nile Virus may show very minimal symptoms or no symptoms at all. They might have really mild flu-like symptoms such as headache, fever, possibly fatigue and aches similar to a flu-like illness. However, severe illness can occur and those symptoms could be things like severe headache, high fever, change in the level of consciousness, severe weakness and then at the severe and rare end, we can see things as severe as a coma or paralysis."

Again, Dr. Roussin says we should do all we can to avoid mosquito bites.