PROVO — A 79-year-old Springville man has died from severe complications caused by West Nile virus, health officials announced Tuesday.
Scott Gottfredson Orrock died Sunday morning at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, becoming Utah’s second West Nile virus- related death. A 72-year-old Uintah County woman died in September 2005 from the mosquito-borne virus.
State and Utah County health officials learned Monday afternoon that inflammation of Orrock’s brain was the result of West Nile virus, said Lance Madigan, Utah County Health Department spokesman.
Orrock’s wife, Dawn, said she suspects her husband was bitten by a mosquito and infected with the virus while sitting on the deck in the yard of their Springville home in late July.
“We were having a family gathering, and we noticed there were a lot of mosquitoes out there,” she said.
Orrock began feeling sick on Aug. 3 and was hospitalized Aug. 9 with severe encephalitis — an inflammation of the brain caused by a viral infection. A late-July bite would fit the time frame of West Nile virus, which has an incubation period of four to 10 days.
Utah County has been hit hard with West Nile virus this year. Fifteen of the state’s 23 confirmed human cases — including Sunday’s death — have been found inside the county’s borders.
“We’ve got a disproportionate share,” Madigan said of Utah County, “but we’ve also got that great big breeding ground called Utah Lake.”
The freshwater lake attracts a lot of birds, which can carry the virus, and along the shoreline there are many areas of standing water — “mosquito-growing areas,” said Dr. Joseph Miner, executive director of the Utah County Health Department.
Utah County also has a lot of people — nearly 450,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates — for mosquitoes to feed on.
Mosquitoes will migrate 12 to 15 miles from where they hatch, Miner said, putting a lot of people at risk.
“The lake is so central in the county,” he said. “If you go 12 to 15 miles from any edge of the lake, you pretty well cover most of the populated area of the county.”
Utah County, which had 15 human cases of West Nile virus in 2005, increased its mosquito-abatement efforts this year in anticipation of another heavy mosquito season.
Mosquito abatement crews have covered more than 50,000 acres in the county with aerial spraying. They’ve also used land vehicles for nightly fogging in problem areas near the lake.
The fogging is done to “create a buffer zone between our known mosquito breeding habitat and our residential and recreational areas,” said Bob Mower, Utah County mosquito abatement director.
“Our efforts haven’t been in vain,” Mower said. “When compared to last year, our mosquito population is down by (more than) 50 percent.”
The problem is more mosquitoes are carrying the virus, Miner said. About 20 percent of the night-biting species of mosquito that spreads the virus to humans are infected in Utah County.
“We’ve been effective in reducing the number of mosquitoes,” Miner said, “but those that are still out there just have a higher infection rate.”
Miner encourages people to protect themselves from West Nile virus by covering up with clothing and insect repellent with DEET when outdoors in the evening and early morning hours.
“The mosquito that bites at night is the one that’s likely to give you West Nile virus,” he said. “The daytime-biting mosquitoes don’t spread West Nile virus.“
Dawn Orrock said her husband had been in poor health in recent years, making him more susceptible to the virus.
Symptoms of West Nile virus vary from case to case. About 80 percent of people who are infected show no symptoms at all, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearly 20 percent of those infected experience flu-like symptoms, Miner said. Fever, nausea and a rash also are common.
Orrock was among the one in 150 people infected with the virus who suffer from severe neurological symptoms.
Dawn Orrock said her husband’s death should serve as a reminder to people to take precautions, but she hopes it doesn’t frighten children from spending time outdoors.
“He was in bad health, first of all,” she said. “It was more likely that he would pass away (from the virus) than someone who was in good health.”
Dawn Orrock says she worries that if her grandchildren think their grandfather was killed by a mosquito, they’d be afraid to leave the house.
“We don’t want to scare little kids,” she said.
Dawn Orrock describes her husband as a “family man.” The couple has 11 children, 50 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren — with more on the way.
Scott Orrock, who would have turned 80 next week, worked in the counseling department at Brigham Young University for 20 years.
West Nile virus has been detected in 13 of Utah’s 29 counties. For more information on West Nile virus in Utah, visit www.health.utah.gov/wnv.
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