-8.6°C Not observed 
REGINA - Two men in southeastern Saskatchewan are believed to be the first humans to be infected with West Nile virus in Canada this summer.
Provincial West Nile co-ordinator Phil Curry said Wednesday that the men, aged 45 to 55, had mild forms of the infection and are recovering in the Sun Country Health Region.
"Both of them were exposed to the virus through a mosquito bite in the first week or second week of August. That was a time when the West Nile risk was much higher," said Curry.
They are the first reported human cases of West Nile virus infection in Saskatchewan for 2010. Surveillance maps posted on the Public Health Agency of Canada's website indicate that as of Wednesday there have been no other human cases of West Nile this year across the country.
Saskatchewan health officials had warned residents in July to take extra precautions against mosquitoes because of wet weather across the southern half of the province this year. That made an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.
But in spite of that, the risk has been lower.
"We did have almost record high mosquito numbers in Saskatchewan, including Culex tarsalis, the mosquito that carries it," said Curry.
"What happened though is we had a lot of cool nights, cool rainy nights. Those were also not good for Culex tarsalis and they were not good flying nights. Because of the cooler temperatures, we didn't see a lot of virus buildup in the mosquito or in the virus."
"Basically, it was not a good summer. We didn't have many warm nights for this mosquito to get out and bite people."
Curry said he's not surprised that there have only been two human West Nile cases so far, adding mjl- there may only be a handful more cases reported this year.
