Confirmed cases of West Nile Virus in areas of Massachusetts has caused the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to raise the risk level for the virus to "high" in several communities in the Commonwealth.

UMass Memorial Health's Dr. Sandeep Jubbal, an infectious disease expert, spoke with Spectrum News about the risks associated with West Nile Virus. Dr. Jubbal, "West Nile virus is not new to Massachusetts, but we are right now at the period of highest risk in the state and this activity usually starts, or peak season starts around this time and continues until early September. Majority of the patients, I would say 80% of the patients bitten by an infected mosquito, do not become ill at all. And again, one in five patients, if you take around 20, I would say 19, 20% patients, would get minor symptoms like flu-like symptoms, like high-grade fever. And the thing that we worry the most is the neuro-invasive disease, which is meningitis, encephalitis, and sometimes paralysis and that happens in less than 1% of patients."

Dr. Jubbal said prevention is the best way to avoid West Nile Virus symptoms, "Unfortunately, we do not have an antiviral treatment and we do not have a vaccine. So prevention or preventing mosquito bite is our only effective tool and I would advise people to put on a mosquito repellent as routinely as you put on sunscreen. There's no need to panic, but I want people to be vigilant."