West Nile virus infects Flathead man
By CANDACE CHAS
Early emergence of disease has health officials concerned
EThe Daily Inter Lake
Montana State Epidemiologist Dr. Todd Damrow reported Wednesday that a man in Flathead County was confirmed with West Nile virus.
A 27-year-old man in Flathead County required hospitalization, but has since been discharged. Although the man had recently traveled to Colorado, health officials believe he acquired the virus here.
Allison Bishop, Flathead County public health nurse, said the incubation time for the virus overlapped the two areas. The period ranges from two to 14 days.
The probability that it was Montana was the strongest, she said.
The Flathead man was the second case reported in Montana in 2006. The first was a 28-year-old man from Madison County who may have acquired the disease while working in Idaho.
The Madison County resident did not require hospitalization.
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had tracked 192 human cases of West Nile virus. Six of those people died from the infection.
This news follows last week s confirmed positive test for the virus a horse in Columbia Falls.
Veterinarian John Erfle of LaSalle Equine Clinic said the young horse had to be euthanized. The animal had not received the vaccination available to protect horses.
He warned that a case this early means mosquitoes may have several weeks before a killing frost to transmit the virus to horses or people.
Because horses get bitten much more frequently than people, the animals contract the disease first when the mosquito-borne virus arrives in an area.
Humans are next in line, Erfle said.
No vaccine exists to protect people from the disease. However, West Nile virus is less deadly to people than horses.
About 80 percent of people infected experience no symptoms. Some develop a mild illness called West Nile fever which resolves on its own in three to six days with no treatment.
According to Bishop, Flathead County health department sent out an alert to local health care providers on Aug. 2 after the virus was confirmed in the horse. Diagnosis in people relies on clinical features and laboratory tests of blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid.
Symptoms of the milder West Nile fever include fever, headache, tiredness, and body aches, occasionally with a skin rash (on the trunk of the body) and swollen lymph glands.
About one out of 150 people develop West Nile encephalitis or meningitis. Signs of the serious illness include headache, rash, high fever, stiff neck, mental confusion, muscle weakness, tremors, convulsions, coma and paralysis.
People older than age 50 are the most common victims of West Nile virus-related illnesses. However, Elton Mosher, disease surveillance specialist with the Department of Public Health and Human Services, said these cases in younger people should remind everyone to take precautions.
Flathead County Health Officer Joe Russell said earlier that everyone in the Flathead Valley needs to take precautions including:
n If possible, stay indoors at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
n If you must go outdoors when mosquitoes are active, wear long sleeves and pants.
n Apply repellents containing 25 percent to 35 percent DEET. Children ages 2 to 12 should use repellent with 10 percent or less DEET. Other effective repellents include picaridin and permethrin as well as oil of lemon eucalyptus.
n Drain standing water around your home from old tires, barrels, buckets, cans, clogged rain gutters and other containers. Change water frequently in pet bowls, flower pots and birdbaths.
Russell asked that people report any heavy infestations of mosquitoes to the health department at 751-8110.
Health officials set traps as part of a surveillance program for West Nile virus in cooperation with the state public health agency and Montana State University s veterinary entomology program.
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.