The Student Health Center has tested three students for West Nile Virus in recent days; the results, which take about two weeks to process, are still pending.
Practitioners at the center determined that the students could be at risk, said Beverly Kloeppel, associate director of the center.
"There hasn't been a (West Nile) scare per se," she said. "If students show up with high fever or headaches, it could be another virus. But we are certainly on alert."
There have already been 34 confirmed cases of the virus in New Mexico this year - five in Bernalillo County - two of which have resulted in death.
"In the next five or six weeks, we expect to continue to see cases in New Mexico," said Dr. Mack Sewell, state epidemiologist at the Department of Health. "It's happening all up and down the Rio Grande and it won't stop until the first frost, then the mosquitoes will start to die."
Symptoms of the virus, spread by mosquitoes, in its mild form include fever, headache and body aches, occasionally with a skin rash on the trunk of the body and swollen lymph glands, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site.
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The CDC estimates that about one in 150 people will develop a more serious form of the disease.
There is no cure for West Nile, said Judith Brillman, associate professor of emergency medicine at UNM's School of Medicine.
"The symptoms, whether they are nausea or dehydration, are treated instead," she said. "Most people don't ever know they have it."
For its part, the UNM Physical Plant Department isn't taking any chances.
"West Nile Virus is not something that hit us by surprise," said Gary Smith, associate director for Environmental Services. "We've been planning for it for more than a year."
Physical Plant employees have been working to identify any areas where standing water, a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes, exists.
Underground leaks, which occur "all over campus because the infrastructure is so old," also create areas of concern, Smith said. One such leak exists at the west side of Zimmerman Library, and Smith said plans to fix it are set for after Welcome Back Days.
Physical Plant is using Bacillus Thuringensis tablets - a naturally occurring bacteria that kills mosquitoes at the larva stage - to eradicate the pests.
The Duck Pond, Smith said, is less problematic because it contains of mosquito fish, which kill the insects, and the pond's fountains discourage standing, stagnant water.
Most of the preventative methods being used by Smith's department, such as cleaning out vegetation and eradicating standing water, fall within normal duties, he said. The University incurs only minor extra costs, to the tune of about $50 a week for labor and $100 a month for chemicals, he added.
Smith said he would assess the risk of contracting West Nile at UNM as low, but not nonexistent.
"It's impossible to make a blanket statement that if you come on campus, you won't get bitten by a mosquito," he said. "But you can certainly feel safe that there's not an active-breeding population on campus."
Both Physical Plant and the Student Health Center are stressing the importance of public education about West Nile, and Kloeppel said the virus will be a topic of conversation at a Tuesday practitioners' meeting.
