http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2018917469_westnile15.html?syndication=rss

An unusually warm winter and rainy spring in the Dallas-Fort Worth area provided ideal conditions for breeding mosquitoes, key West Nile virus carriers.

HOUSTON ‹ Dallas County officials have declared a state of emergency after the West Nile virus infected at least 190 people, killing at least 10, as the nation's worst outbreak hit Texas.

Texans have contracted the highest number of West Nile infections and have suffered more West Nile deaths than any state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Statewide, 16 deaths ‹ including the 10 in Dallas County ‹ have been reported this year, compared with two in 2011 and seven the year before, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services

The virus is spreading at a faster pace this year across the state. As of Monday, 381 West Nile infections had been reported in more than 24 Texas counties, compared with 27 infections reported statewide last year in a handful of counties.

In Houston, about 95 percent of tested mosquitoes carried the virus.