NEW YORK CITY (KYTX) - Since the first US outbreak of West Nile virus in 1999, New York City has taken to the skies to spray for mosquitos hoping to keep the virus in check.
In Dallas, the outbreak is so bad, officials plan to do the same thing this year.
Scary words for Becky Dennis of nearby Plano.
She was bitten by a mosquito on a trip to India and developed a strain of encephalitis similar to West Nile.
The infection was so bad she temporarily lost sight in one eye.
She still has problems with her sense of taste.
For two years, Dennis says doctors thought she had suffered a stroke.
She now helps others who've been infected.
Most who are infected never develop symptoms.
Less than one percent suffer severe neurological illness like Ellen Garcia, of San Antonio, who became ill seven years ago.
Experts at the centers for disease control say West Nile activity is "a little higher" but that they won't know the full impact until summer's over, nor are they sure what's causing the uptick.
In Dallas, 10 people have already died from West Nile.
