1st Case of West Nile in County This Year

An east Los Angeles County man became the first person to test positive for the West Nile virus in the county this year, health officials confirmed Friday.

The man, whose name and city of residence were not released, showed up in an emergency room in mid-July complaining of a rash, headache and muscle weakness. Lab results confirmed Friday that he was infected with the virus, but he is now recovering, officials said.

“The person does remember being bitten” by a mosquito, said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county’s health officer. “The fact that we’ve identified our first human case is a good time to remember to take the appropriate precautions.”

County officials also detected the virus last week in three crows from Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks and Venice. Dozens of human cases of West Nile have been identified in California counties to date, mostly in the Central Valley.

August and September are peak months for transmission of the virus to people. The symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting and skin rash.

The virus is generally transmitted to humans through infected mosquitoes, which feed on infected birds. Since West Nile was first detected in the United States in 1999, it has killed nearly 1,000 people nationwide.

The disease has not killed anyone in California so far this year. But it has claimed the lives of two people in Mississippi and one in Minnesota as of Tuesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the 43 Los Angeles County residents who tested positive for the virus last year, Fielding said, none died. And this year’s first human case in the county arrived about a month later than the first case last year. Still, Fielding advised residents to eliminate any sources of standing water and use insect repellent when outdoors.

“When the temperature rises, more people are getting outside earlier and staying out through dusk and early evening,” he said. “During hot evenings, it is especially important to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites.”