The Alachua County Health Department recently announced the year’s first case of locally acquired West Nile virus has been confirmed in a 64-year-old man.
Paul Myers, administrator for the health department, said he couldn’t disclose the man’s exact condition, but he said it is a serious case of the virus.
“We certainly hope that no more human cases show up,” he said. “However, the threat is still out there.”
Mosquitoes commonly transmit the virus to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Symptoms include headaches, fever, altered mental states and confusion. Children and the elderly are more at risk for developing the virus.
Vaccines for the virus aren’t available, but over-the-counter painkillers can be used to suppress symptoms, according to the CDC. People with severe cases may be hospitalized.
Myers said 70 to 80 percent of people infected with the virus are asymptomatic, meaning they don’t show signs of the virus. Symptoms are based on the individual in terms of the severity and progression of the disease.
“Personal barrier precautions are the most effective way to prevent infection from mosquito-born diseases,” he said.
Myers said people should wear long pants and sleeves if they are outside, use insect repellent, drain standing water around homes and avoid being outside at dusk and dawn.
“You take into consideration that it only takes one tablespoon of water to breed up to 200 mosquitoes,” he said. “It doesn’t take very much water to create a problem.”
Walter Tabachnick, director of UF’s Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, described getting infected with West Nile virus as winning the lottery in reverse.
He said there are between 20 and 100 cases of the virus a year in Florida. The more people are exposed to mosquitoes, the more likely they are to be one of those cases.
Alachua County has a surveillance system for mosquitoes, including light traps, sentinel chickens and reports from veterinarians and physicians.
Tabachnick said it is unlikely a substantial number of cases will occur after this case because it’s toward the end of the virus season.
He said there’s no reason to be alarmed because of the single case.
“The virus is circulating in a lot of places in Florida,” he said, “and unfortunately, this individual won the lottery ticket — the ticket that nobody wants.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/17/2013 under the headline "Year’s first local West Nile virus case confirmed"
