County Reports First Human Case of West Nile Virus in 2012

Patient is expected to recover

By Caroline Tan

| Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 | Updated 3:00 PM PDT

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LA County has reported its first human case of the West Nile virus in 2012, officials from the Department of Public Health announced on July 18.

Los Angeles County has reported its first human case of the West Nile virus in 2012, health officials confirmed Wednesday.

“This is our first case,” said Sarah Kissell, a spokeswoman for the department. “We don’t expect it to be our only case of 2012, but it’s our first case.”

The patient is a middle-aged adult from San Gabriel Valley who was briefly hospitalized in early July and is now home and expected to recover, said officials from the Department of Public Health in a Tuesday press release.

The patient, whose gender has not been released, also suffers from other chronic health conditions not related to the virus.

Residents are urged to take extra precautions against possible infection by removing stagnant water around their houses, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants when outdoors and using mosquito repellent, said Jonathan Fielding, director of the Department of Public Health.

Symptoms of the West Nile virus can last for years and include fatigue, malaise and depression, according to Fielding.

LA County reported four fatal cases of the virus in 2011, one in 2009 and six in 2008, according to statistics from the LA County Department of Public Health. No fatal cases were reported in 2010, though four people were infected.

Other confirmed cases of the virus in the state this year include a six-year-old girl from Stanislaus County, a 70-year-old woman from Kern County and a 59-year-old man from Clovis.