Teen 17th in Southland to Get West Nile
A 15-year-old boy from San Bernardino County is the latest person to be found infected with the West Nile virus, health officials announced Friday.
The boy began having symptoms, such as extreme exhaustion and fever, at the end of June, and he was hospitalized with a neuro-invasive disease, said Robert Miller, a spokesman for the California Department of Health Services.
Sixteen others in Southern California are known to be infected with West Nile, which is carried by birds and mosquitoes. The insects bite infected birds and then pass the disease on to humans and some animals.
Most of the human cases this year in California have been in San Bernardino County, but the disease is expected to spread heavily throughout the state. Two people in eastern Los Angeles County and three in Riverside County also have been infected.
Health officials encourage people to wear insect repellent with DEET at all hours and to cover up in long sleeves and pants when outside during dusk and dawn, mosquito breeding time.
Health officials also ask residents to rid their property of all standing water and to properly maintain swimming pools to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
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