The heat of the summer provides an ideal breeding environment for mosquitoes and, this year, for West Nile Virus.
In 2012, there have been more reported cases of the virus than in years past.
According to the Center for Disease Control, Mississippi has had 79 confirmed cases of West Nile Virus in various parts of the state.
However, there have been no confirmed cases in Oktibbeha County as of Aug. 29.
Across the nation as a whole, 66 of the 1,590 reported cases of West Nile Virus have proven fatal, as of Aug. 29.
Jerome Goddard, an extension professor of entomology and plant pathology, said the drought Mississippi experienced in the early part of this year may have been a factor in the high number of West Nile Virus cases that have been reported in Mississippi and across the nation.
 ”The mosquito that carries the West Nile Virus likes drought and soupy, organic water,” Goddard said.
 He also said West Nile Virus is a bird virus and can only be passed to humans through mosquitoes that have come in contact with a bird that has the virus.
West Nile Virus is spread by being bitten by an infected mosquito or through blood transfusions, organ transplants, breastfeeding or even through pregnancy from mother to child.
The virus cannot be spread  through contact.
Goddard said everyone is at risk of being infected by the virus; however, people over the age of 50 usually are the ones who contract it.
Joyce Yates, MSU’s director of health education and wellness, said she, too, attributes the increase in the virus to Mississippi’s warmer than average temperatures throughout the past year.
“I believe that the mild winter, hot summer and early spring helped rouse the insects,” she said.
Yates said she advises students to be mindful of their clothing choices as well as the time they spend outside at night and in the early morning in order to better protect themselves from contracting West Nile Virus.
“To prevent contracting West Nile Virus, students should wear long sleeves and long pants, always wear insect repellant and avoid being outside from dusk until dawn,” she said.
Melanie Foreman, kinesiology major, said she is taken aback by the large quantity of West Nile Virus cases in Mississippi.
She also said she thinks students do not have enough knowledge of the virus.
“It’s startling that there are so many cases of West Nile Virus in Mississippi,” she said. “I feel that we have been undereducated about it and that universities in the affected areas should be educating their students on the virus and prevention.”
According to the CDC, some symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, neck stiffness, nausea and vomiting.
More severe cases may cause disorientation, coma, tremors or convulsions.
The CDC also said approximately 80 percent of people will not show any symptons with West Nile Virus at all.