Amite, La. - The state won't confirm it, but the wife of 79-year-old Raymond Stevens of Loranger, says doctors told her that her husband's death was caused by the West Nile Virus.
That news has people in Tangipahoa Parish on alert. Frank Arnone is a produce farmer at Shallow Farm in Tangipahoa. His business keeps him outdoors, but he says he doesn't head out into the fields without long sleeves and insect repellent. "It's scary. You know, you don't know if you're one of the persons that will be affected by it," he said.
A fellow farmer in Loranger was affected by it. Raymond Stevens died Saturday night.
Tangipahoa Parish President Gordon Burgess says he was saddened by the news and also concerned about why the state hadn't informed him of the death. "I'm not being critical of anyone, but dad-gummit, when we might have an outbreak, I should have known about it."
State Epidemiologist Raoul Ratard says until the state confirms five deaths, information on deaths related to the West Nile Virus will not be released or confirmed. "Once we start having several deaths, we put the number out, but never put specific information that would allow you to go find out who it is." The state's position is that releasing information about the location of a West Nile Death would give the media enough information to track down the family of the victim. Ratard says the state wants no role exposing the identities of victims.
So far this year the state has confirmed 33 human cases of West Nile. 16 of those were the potentially deadly neuroinvasive form. Experts say for every ten of those cases, you can expect one death.
Burgess says Tangipahoa has a Mosquito Control District that covers the lower half or most marsh covered portion of the parish. Even so, he says that's not enough protection. He's encouraging residents throughout the parish to do what they can to clear standing water from their homes as quickly as possible. Standing water can quickly become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
