The Reason Behind West Nile’s Appearance [AUDIO] Cases of West
Nile Virus are on the rise throughout the United States. In the
Garden State alone there have been fifteen confirmed cases of
the virus afflicting people, one of which resulted in the death
of a Burlington County man. So why is the virus making so much
noise this late into the summer? Robert Kent, Administrator of
the Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Mosquito
Control Coordination says the age of insects is one of the
factors for the spread of West Nile. “We’re dealing with an old
mosquito population that’s been flying for a great portion of
the summer, and this gives West Nile Virus the opportunity to
accumulate in the mosquito population. And as the mosquitoes
continue to feed on birds the virus is amplified.” Once a
mosquito takes blood from a bird infected with West Nile, it’s
able to metabolize the virus into something that is transferable
and could be spread through other blood meals (humans). “From
our stepped up surveillan