MODESTO BEE
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

By BLAIR CRADDOCK
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: August 17, 2005, 04:27:57 AM PDT

Four more Stanislaus County residents have been diagnosed with West Nile virus, including a 41-year-old man in critical condition in a Bay Area hospital, public health officials said Tuesday.
Also, the East Side Mosquito Abatement District, which covers the northern part of the county, announced an expansion of the Modesto territory where trucks will spray insecticide to kill mosquitoes — which spread the virus.

The four new cases include a 56-year-old man who also was hospitalized and was listed in fair condition, said David T. Jones, spokesman for the county Health Services Agency. The other newly diagnosed are women, ages 54 and 73, who had not required hospitalization, the agency announced.

Stanislaus County now has 23 human cases this year, third highest in the state behind Sacramento County, with 47, and Riverside County, 24.

Trucks started spraying central Modesto neighborhoods this week, on a schedule that was due to end early Thursday. Now, the East Side Mosquito Abatement District plans three more days of spraying:

• FRIDAY — Between Prescott and Sisk roads.
• MONDAY — Other northwest neighborhoods.
• TUESDAY — Area bounded by Scenic Drive and Yosemite Boulevard, west of Claus Road.

The Turlock Mosquito Abatement District, which covers the area south of the Tuolumne River, has sprayed more than 30,000 acres this year, said Jerry Davis, the district's manager.

He warned people to be careful in mosquito "hot spots."

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