W.Nile outbreak reaches new heights, kills Kern County woman

The growing West Nile outbreak in California reached new heights on Friday when the state health officials announced the death of a Kern County resident, marking the first confirmed West Nile related death in their county.

The victim was a 96 year-old female resident of Bakersfield, who was died from complications of a neuroinvasive West Nile virus infection, reported the Kern County Department of Public Health.

The name of the Kern County woman, who has become the first person in California to die from the West Nile virus this year, was not released by the department.

“I am sad to report that we have lost one of our residents to West Nile virus,” said Claudia Jonah, M.D., Interim Health Officer and Interim Director of Public Health Services. “While deaths from West Nile virus are rare, this should serve as a reminder that the elderly and those in frail health are at heightened risk for complications from West Nile virus disease.”

The mosquito-borne virus, which peaks in July and August is off to an early start this year in the state. West Nile has entrapped 30 of California's 58 counties.

So far, Kern County, located in the southern Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, leads in the number of cases reported of the West Nile virus, with seven people having fallen ill and 41 dead birds (as of July 11) having tested positive for the virus. One human West Nile case is also reported in San Joaquin Valley.

Last week, state health officials declared the West Nile-endemic in California. The peak levels of W.Nile virus in the state were witnessed in 2004 when its existence was reported in all 58 counties, affecting at least 779 people and killing 28.

The virus had claimed seven human lives in 2006.

West Nile, a mosquito-borne disease which is named after the West Nile district of Uganda, where the virus was first detected, is not spread from person to person or from infected birds to humans without a mosquito bite.

The virus is usually transmitted to humans by Culex mosquitoes, the type that spread the disease. These mosquitoes contract the virus from infected birds. When they feast on blood, they can pump this potentially-fatal virus into a vein and can thus pass it to humans, horses and, in a few cases, dogs.

The severest form of the virus can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord). Less than one per cent of people, infected with the mosquito-borne virus suffers serious long-term neurological effects, or dies.

It has been observed that nearly 80 per cent of people do not show any symptoms or know they have contracted the disease, while 20 per cent show only mild symptoms that include fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting or a skin rash. More severe symptoms include dizziness and disorientation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After confirming the sad news of elderly Bakersfield female’s death, Mark Horton, director of the state Department of Health Services said, "This unfortunate death reminds us that we must take precautions to protect ourselves and our families from mosquito bites."

The health authorities are urging people to use all available preventive measures to protect themselves against mosquitoes which carry the extremely infectious virus as well as other diseases.

In order to protect themselves from mosquito bites, people can wear long sleeves shirts and pants and spray their clothing with repellent that contains the chemical DEET or picaridin. The repellents are important in the early morning and evening hours when mosquito activity is at its highest.