West Nile Virus Cases Continue To Set Records

Revelation 6:7,8  NCV  When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.

<blockquote>“Truly frightening diseases such as Ebola, mad-cow disease, the Hong Kong “bird flu,” and others emanating from the animal kingdom are becoming more prevalent.  I now understand how the animals will precipitate the potential deaths of a quarter of our world’s population.  The devastation on the earth as the result of the horrible famines, pestilences, and wild beasts of Revelation are extremely plausible, not in some science fiction fantasy, but here and now.”
<p style="text-align: right;">-Jim Bakker in “Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse”</p>
</blockquote>

The outbreak of West Nile Virus in the United States continues to set records as infections reported to the CDC skyrocket.

Arkansas health officials have reported that 5 people have died from the virus this year. In addition, officials confirm that 43 people have been infected by the virus this year in the state. By comparison, there was only one case of West Nile Virus in Arkansas last year and no deaths.

In Mississippi, cases of West Nile have increased over 250%. While deaths are lower (5 in 2011, 4 in 2012) the total number of cases has increased from 52 to 186. The Department of Health only reports laboratory confirmed cases so the number could be higher.

In Texas, the record number of deaths and cases continues to rise. Another death was reported on Monday bringing the state’s death toll to 62. Texas’s death toll in 2011 according to the CDC was 2…a 3000% increase. The state’s cases are now at a laboratory confirmed 1,406 cases. That’s an increase of over 5000% from the 2011 CDC reported total of 27.

The outbreak is not just limited to the south. Massachusetts, which had 6 confirmed cases in 2011, has 19 confirmed cases to date in 2012. Also the state had the first death since 2005.