The Associated Press
and The Cincinnati Enquirer

FRANKFORT - Extra precautions taken by Kentuckians and stepped-up mosquito-control efforts are being credited for a drop in the number of West Nile virus cases in the state this year.

Heavy summer rain may have also helped prevent spread of the disease.

In its end-of-the-season report on the potentially deadly virus, the state Department of Public Health reported 14 cases in 2003, with one death, an 89-year-old Fort Thomas woman. That's down from 75 human cases, including five deaths, in 2002 - the first year West Nile was reported in Kentuckians.

Kentuckians are fortunate to have the relatively small number of cases this year, said Sue Billings, a veterinarian and epidemiologist with the department. "But we need to be vigilant."

Last month, state and local health officials confirmed that Erma Margaret Haverkamp Gutfreund was this year's first West Nile virus death in Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati. The Campbell County widow was hospitalized the week before her Sept. 26 death, after complaining of a headache, lack of appetite and body aches. She later suffered from extreme fatigue and paralysis.

Before Gutfreund was stricken with West Nile, her daughter, Sarah Jo McVickers of Wilder, described the avid gardener as "the epitome of health and energy.''

This year, 102 horses and 111 birds tested positive for West Nile, compared with 513 horses and 693 birds last year.

Nationally, it was a record year for West Nile, which struck some Western states particularly hard. There were 8,393 cases with a median age of 47, and 184 deaths, with a median age of 77.

The peak of West Nile activity occurred about three weeks later this year than in 2002 - in September instead of August.

The human cases arose fairly evenly around the state, with two each in Barren and Daviess counties and one each in Campbell, Clark, Clinton, Fayette, Grant, Greenup, Hart, Kenton, Laurel and Marion counties.

Billings said the reasons for the drop in cases are complicated and uncertain to some extent but include intensified mosquito-control efforts, including killing mosquito larvae in standing water that provide prime breeding habitat. Mosquitoes spread the disease.

Billings cited such stepped-up control efforts in Jefferson County, where the number of West Nile cases dropped from 29 in 2002 to none this year.

Billings also credited Kentuckians with being more careful in protecting themselves by wearing insect repellent and long-sleeved clothing when outside during mosquito season.