State health officials are reporting today the first confirmed case of West Nile virus in Minnesota for 2010.
A Yellow Medicine County man who was hospitalized in late July with West Nile encephalitis is the state’s first laboratory-confirmed case of the season, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Health officials say the case should remind Minnesotans to protect themselves from mosquitoes from now through September — the peak time period for West Nile virus (WNV).
“While Minnesotans have noticed lots of mosquitoes throughout the summer, August is typically the highest risk month for WNV,” David Neitzel, an epidemiologist with the state Health Department, said in a news release. “We’ve had a bumper crop of pest mosquitoes this summer, but the species that carry WNV are most abundant in late summer.”
Illnesses can occur in residents throughout Minnesota and among all age groups. But state officials say the risk is greatest in western and central counties, which typically have the greatest number of Culex tarsalis mosquitoes, the primary carrier of the virus here.
People can reduce their chance of West Nile virus infection by using mosquito repellents at dusk and dawn. Minnesota has seen 455 cases of West Nile virus and 14 reported fatalities since 2002, the first year it was found in the state.
In 2009, when the first confirmed case was reported in mid-July, there were 4 reported cases in Minnesota with no deaths.
Most people infected with West Nile virus fight it off without any symptoms or develop West Nile fever, the less severe form of the disease. About 1 in 150 people bitten by infected mosquitoes will develop severe central nervous system diseases such as encephalitis or meningitis.
Approximately 10 percent of people with this severe form of West Nile virus infection die from the illness, and many more suffer from long-term nervous system problems.
Symptoms usually show up three to 15 days after being bitten and can include headache, high fever, rash, muscle weakness, stiff neck, disorientation, convulsions, paralysis and coma. Severe cases tend to occur most often in the elderly.
Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at 651-228-5479.