Due to warmer and longer mosquito seasons and a decrease in disease-control funding, experts anticipate a West Nile outbreak.

After the year 2003, with nearly 10, 000 cases and 264 dead, a West Nile outbreak didn’t appear until last year. In 2012, there were 5, 674 cases and 286 dead.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that this is due to “unpredictable local and regional outbreaks.”

“Our sense of urgency and the degree of attention paid to West Nile virus has dimished and so, too, have the necessary resources to prevent another outbreak,” said Stephen M. Ostroff, formerly of the CDC, who wrote an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) involved in these studies.

With a mild winter, the summer heat, and lots of rain, it is much easier for a West Nile outbreak to occur.

Funding for prevention and control has fallen as well. The CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases program, which provides money to large cities and states, experienced a drop in its funding. From the early 2000’s at $35 million, funding dropped to $10 million by 2012.

No vaccine or specific treatment exists. Fortunately, the key to prevention is simply early detection. Mosquito traps and tests are inexpensive, and wearing bug spray does reduce risk of West Nile.

Consult your doctor if you have any other health care or medical concerns.