Third Human Case of West Nile Virus Confirmed in Illinois

According to a press release by illinois.gov, the Illinois Department of Public Health has confirmed the third human West Nile virus case in Illinois for this year.

The man is a Madison County resident in his 60s. He reportedly traveled between Illinois and other states while he had the virus. Lab tests have confirmed that the man has the most severe form of the West Nile virus. He has West Nile neuroinvasive disease. It's extremely severe because it attack a person's nervous system.

Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, the Illinois Department of Public Health Director, said of the third case, "So far this year there are three cases of people reported to have West Nile virus in Illinois, compared with no human cases this time last year. So, this third human case this year should make everyone more cautious...even though we have not seen widespread mosquito activity, you still need to protect yourself against mosquito bites."

A total of three counties this year have reported mosquito samples positive for the West Nile virus. The three counties are DuPage County on May 8, Tazewell County on May 17 and Cook County on May 24. The first human case in the state for this year was from DuPage County back on June 15th.

Last year in 2006, the number of West Nile virus cases were heavy. Out of the state's 102 counties, 77 of them had the West Nile virus in either a bird, mosquito, horse, or human sample. Shockingly, there were a total of 215 human cases and 10 deaths from the virus.

This year, heavy monitoring of the virus started on May 1st. The Illinois Department of Public Health ran lab tests on mosquitoes, birds, horses, and even humans who showed West Nile-like symptoms.

One thing that Illinois Department of Public Health asks that citizens do is that they contact their local health department if they observe a dying bird. All local health departments will pick up the animal to test it for the virus.

Most people who have the West Nile virus may not realize it. There are no clinical symptoms of the illness, but people may become seriously ill three to 14 days after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus.