The number of West Nile Virus cases has been climbing up another time, but the rate of increase is slow. This indicates aerial spraying last month had the desired result killing a big part of the disease carrying mosquitoes.

Presently, there are 115 people in Kern County with the disease. That’s up from 107 a week ago. But an increase of eight cases is low as against six or seven weeks ago, when the number augmented by 30% each week.

Still, Kern stays the center of the California outbreak. There are 14 new cases in the whole state, in the recent week, comprising the eight in and around Bakersfield. WNV cases have been reported in 27 counties. This year, there have been 13 deaths from the disease, with four of those in Kern.

Last week the Kern County Health Department brought out a cool-weather caution: Even though temperatures are dropping as fall approaches, mosquitoes are still alive and it’s possible to become infected.

Dr. Claudia Jonah, the county’s health officer, said, “During cooler weather, mosquitoes mature more slowly than during the hotter days of summer. However, once adult mosquitoes reach maturity, they will feed as often as necessary to produce more eggs. Until we see daytime temperatures drop below 50 degrees, mosquitoes will continue to be a nuisance and potential health threat to the public.”

The Kern County Department of Public Health will carry on distributing mosquitoes repellent wipes at public places all through Kern County.

The State Department of Health has stated that the best way to shun WNV is to keep away from mosquito bites. The department has suggested what it called a ‘3-D plan,’ under which it gives certain instructions to avoid the disease.