Oregon Public Broadcasting

Three people in the southeastern part of Oregon have tested positive for West Nile Virus - the first human cases in the state this year.

And as Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports, the current proliferation of the virus is being linked to more than just mosquitos.

In California, officials say the West Nile virus is infecting more people since 2004.

Oregon public health officials worried the same thing might happen here.

But early results indicate Oregon may avoid the worst of it.

William Reisen is a veterinary professor at U.C. Davis. He says for  a number of reasons, California is worse off than the Pacific Northwest.

William Reisen: “Take someplace like L.A., and let's just say for discussion, 10 percent of the houses people walked away from, and every third house has a pool, that's 40,000 pools that have been abandoned and now you have these huge urban pools in the backyard.”

Four out of five people who get West Nile don't even know it, but older and unhealthier people can be at risk for flu-like symptoms, and in rare cases, death.

All three infected Oregonians are recovering.