TEXAS: 16 Dead In West Nile Outbreak

A state of emergency has been declared in Dallas County after 16 people died from West Nile virus. Some are blaming global warming.

An unusually warm winter and rainy spring in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and elsewhere in Texas has provided ideal conditions for breeding mosquitoes, West Nile carriers, officials said. The emergency declaration in Dallas clears the way for state money and resources to fight the outbreak. In the coming days the county will deploy small planes for aerial insecticide spraying over hard-hit neighborhoods, in addition to ground spraying already underway. Texans have contracted the highest number of West Nile infections and have suffered more West Nile deaths than any other state in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far this year 381 West Nile cases have been reported across Texas. At this time last year, there had been 27. Local authorities have launched a massive spraying campaign.