More people come forward about odd symptoms from mosquito bite
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — News 4 is diving back into a puzzling issues that was first brought to viewers Thursday night.
Apparent mosquito bites are leaving people with odd symptoms such as swollen hands and intense pain.
Since the previous story aired, countless of emails and social media comments from News 4 viewers have flooded in, reporting similar reactions to these bug bites.
Some doctors are not even sure what to think of it.
Each person telling a similar story, while even parents telling News 4 of their kids being bitten by a mosquito, and the bites resulting in swelling, burning, itching and becoming slightly painful.
Some symptoms even lasting hours, others lasting days.
"I freaked out," said Tara Morgan, whose daughter had a bad reaction to a mosquito bite.
A worried mother seeing her baby swell up after being bit by mosquitoes, not sure what to think.
"My biggest fear was it's swelling to the point where it could have problems with her arteries or closing her throat up or causing breathing issues because it was huge, very, very big," Morgan said.
After seeing our first story air, she reached out to News 4 for help.
"I was like, that is crazy because I thought we were the only ones this is happening to," Morgan said.
Her pediatrician told her its an allergic reaction; but she, her husband and their kids have never experienced something like this from a mosquito bite until the last couple of months, and they aren't the only ones.
"I've never had a reaction from a mosquito bite before," said Rick Jackson, who had a bad reaction to a mosquito bite. "That, of course, makes a normal little lump, but I've never had a severe reaction from anything like that."
Many other viewers sent in emails and dropped comments on the News 4 Facebook post, all saying and showing similar reactions.
Jackson lives in Tulsa, which makes him believe this isn't an isolated issue.
"What was going through my mind is what kind of, you know, virus or disease that thing could be carrying, you know, to cause that," Jackson said.
News 4 reached out to multiple health agencies, epidemiologist and bug experts, each saying our story was the first time they have seen or heard of something like this happening, which has many concerned.
"That just absolutely blew my mind," Jackson said. "I just saw that article today and it was just like, oh my gosh, it's happened to others. I just thought, you know, it was an isolated thing."
Both the Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the Oklahoma State Health Department say the previous story has sparked concern and interest on what could be behind this.
For now, the health departments say they'll continue their normal mosquito testing efforts, and keep an eye out for anything abnormal.