It's been a quiet season for mosquitoes in much of the valley, but more and more cases of West Nile are showing up. In North Dakota, there have been 14 cases of West Nile so far this year. Nine are confirmed in our viewing area. And in Minnesota, there have been 18, as well, with two confirmed in our area.
Garrick Larson of Moorhead says, "It all of a sudden cascaded into feeling really terrible."
As an active guy, Garrick knew something was wrong when everyday tasks were difficult.
"Came home. Took a nap. When I woke up, my head was, it was the worst pain I've ever felt," says Garrick.
After weeks of worsening symptoms and multiple doctor visits, Garrick ended up in the ER for days.
Garrick says, "The infectious disease doctor walked in and said, 'you have West Nile." But honestly, I don't hardly remember that. The whole week, I don't remember the whole week. I was in bad shape."
A Culex Tarsalis mosquito is what's behind all of Garrick's pain. And even though mosquitoes don't seem that bad this year, the threat is still out there.
Experts say the best way to prevent yourself from getting West Nile is to wear bug spray with DEET.
"I know I didn't apply it every time or as often as I should reapply," says Garrick. He's now going into his 2nd month of recovery, and still very weak. But he's hoping others will see his story, take West Nile seriously and always wear bugspray.
Garrick says, "I just feel like if it could prevent some cases, because in my case, it was so bad, it scared my wife terribly. That is would get better that way."
Because a little bugspray now, can help save you a lot of pain.
There have been more West Nile cases in the area this year than the last few. Cass County Vector Control says it could be from the high heat we saw earlier in the summer.
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