The thing everyone was afraid of, eventually happened: the blood two men in Orange County donated tested positive for West Nile virus. These were 2008’s first two cases in the area; last year, Orange County recorded ten human cases of the virus infection.

The county’s Health Care Agency did not release the names and hometowns of the two; it did however say that neither (aged 23 and 41) presents the symptoms of the illness.

The terrible heat wave that hit California this summer brought the state’s residents, besides hundreds of fires, the perfect temperature and humidity conditions for the spread of the West Nile virus. As last year, this mosquito-borne illness has lead to the infection of 380 people and to the eventual death of 21 state residents, it is not something that should be taken lightly.

In California, the West Nile situation started back in 2004; since then, every summer brings forward numerous reports of infection cases. For 2008, up to this point, only three cases had been signaled, one in Tulare County and two in Stanislaus.

The virus’s transmission works like this: the virus is acquired by mosquitoes from birds and then, through that annoying bite, passed on to humans. Once a human is bitten, depending on the person’s size and immune system condition, it takes from three up to twelve days for the illness to show its first signs.

As the best way to go about this problem is prevention rather than treatment, a good approach was considered to be the destruction of the virus-carrying insect. Eastern Contra Costa County for instance, has built a mosquito fish aquarium; these fish can eat up to 500 larvae a day. People are encouraged to populate with such fish every stagnant water site they see fit.