Hurricanes may have kept West Nile Virus under control
ORLANDO, Fla. Hurricanes that pummeled Florida this year also smashed the mosquito population, helping the state avoid another record year for West Nile virus cases. Authorities say only half as many people as last year were infected, as the peak season for the mosquito-born infection closes.
In all, 41 people in the state have been diagnosed with West Nile this year, and two of them died from the infection. There were 94 human cases and six deaths in 2003.
Health officials had worried that hurricanes would fuel West Nile because the extra rain would create mosquito-breeding grounds.
In the end, however, the successive hurricanes probably hampered rather than helped the insects.
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