WEST NILE STRIKES LEWIS COUNTY MAN

(11/10/2003)

The West Nile Virus, which has spread across much of the US, has struck again in West Virginia. West Nile has now been confirmed in two West Virginians this year. State public health veterinarian Dr. Jane Rooney says a Lewis County man contracted a milder form of the disease caused by the mosquito-borne virus. The Red Cross first identified the possibility of West Nile after the man donated blood this past August Further testing confirmed the case. The unidentified Lewis County man has recovered. A Berkeley County senior citizen was diagnosed with West Nile virus this year and recovered. The virus can cause flu-like symptoms in humans. Some people can develop encephalitis, or swelling of the brain. Three human cases of West Nile were reported in West Virginia last year. Fifty-four-year-old Barbara Whipkey of Parkersburg died in October 2002. Seventy-eight-year-old William Kerr of Parkersburg had the virus when he died in September 2002. A 55-year-old Putnam County man who became sick with West Nile in August 2002, recovered. Several days of freezing temperatures will decrease the mosquito risk.

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