Town-hall meetings to address W. Nile virus

8/31/2002

If news of West Nile virus has you stockpiling mosquito repellant and worrying about every sneeze and sniffle, the Toledo-Lucas County health department hopes to ease some of those concerns.

The department is hosting a West Nile virus town hall meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Springfield Township Hall, 7617 Angola Rd. Department officials will present information about the disease, and are inviting the public to come and ask questions. Two additional meetings are planned, but dates and locations haven't been set for those yet.

"There's just a lot going on right now, so we wanted to have an opportunity for the public to come and ask questions," said Mike Oricko, the department's director of environmental health.

West Nile virus is present in every county in northwest Ohio, although the only suspected human case is that of an 81-year-old Sandusky area man who died Tuesday. Statewide, there have been 36 probable cases of West Nile virus infection in people, including four deaths.