Could last year’s Colorado mosquito boom impact West Nile cases in 2024?

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After a record year for mosquitos in 2023, experts are closely monitoring numbers in 2024.

DENVER — Health experts are urging Coloradans to take precautions after the state'sIt follows a record year for West Nile cases in Colorado, with 634 total cases reported. That's more than the previous four years combined.One of those patients was Doug Pfluger, a Denver man who believes he was bit in his backyard.

“I was fine one day working in the garage and the backyard, and that night, I was laying on the floor,” he said. Pfluger has multiple sclerosis but says he never had any serious complications until contracting West Nile virus.“They told me to expect six months to a year to really start to being close to a full recovery, and I don’t know if I’m going to make it by August. It’s still pretty tough,” he said. “I was basically paralyzed. I couldn’t move my fingers, toes, anything, and that was really dark.”

While cases like Pfluger's remain rare, the spike in serious cases in 2023 has some concerned about what 2024 could have in store.Hancock, known affectionately as the"mosquito man," has been capturing and studying Colorado mosquitos for decades.“We had a lot of mosquitos last year, record numbers, and that means we had record numbers of mosquitos going into hibernation,” he said. “So, it’s probable that we’re having record mosquitos coming out of hibernacula, and here we are.

“I’ve heard that this year’s going to be worse than last year, so I wish everybody luck, and hopefully, not too many people have to go through it like I did.”

 

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