West Nile virus Engulfs First Human Life in California

The extremely infectious West Nile virus has continued to surge in parts of California, claiming its first human victim this year in Orange County in Southern California, the state Department of Public Health announced on Monday.

A 72-year-old Buena Park woman has become the first person in California this year to die of the WNV infection.

In a statement yesterday, the Orange County Health Care Agency said the woman died of the infection earlier this month after being hospitalized in Orange County in Southern California that has not had a West Nile virus-related death since2004.

“This unfortunate death reminds us that we must take precautions to protect ourselves and our families from mosquito bites,” said Dr. Mark Horton, director of the health department. “Californians should use insect repellent and eliminate all sources of standing water that can support mosquito breeding.”

The latest fatality came after representatives of vector control agencies from four counties warned that the risk of contracting West Nile virus from mosquito bites is the highest in four years.

Discovered in the United States in 1999, West Nile virus has entrapped 38 of California's 58 counties. Statewide, 112 human cases of West Nile virus infection have been reported so far this year, and 96 people in 13 counties have become ill from the virus.

The virus also has been found in 1,295 dead birds in the state; 1,101 mosquito samples; five horses; 109 chickens and nine squirrels. So far this year, in Southern California, 566 dead birds and 316 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile.

The health officials are worried about a possible repeat of cases such as what happened in 2004, when Southern California experienced 710 human West Nile virus cases with 21 fatalities.

According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2006 there were 4,261 diagnosed cases of West Nile virus in the United States; 1,459 were the neuroinvasive (NIV) form, the most severe strain of the virus, with 174 deaths attributed to the disease. In California there have been nine deaths and 198 cases.

WNV, the mosquito-borne virus can not spread from person to person or from infected birds to humans without a mosquito bite. It usually transmits 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 extremely dangerous 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 W.Nile virus, which predominantly is a fatal infection of birds but can be transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, suffers serious long-term neurological effects, or dies.

Usually, WNV strikes the old, the really young, and the ones with a weakened immune system, and in specific cases, it can prove to be fatal.

Of the infected individuals, nearly 80 per cent 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 can result in neurological disease in approximately one in 150 cases, with the elderly at highest risk, according to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms usually appear between five and 15 days after infection.

As, there is no cure, no medications, no specific treatments and no human vaccine for West Nile virus infection, prevention remains the best cure from this subtle virus. By wearing long sleeves shirts and pants and spraying their clothing with repellent that contains the chemical DEET or picaridin, individuals can protect themselves from lethal mosquito bites.