West Nile Virus in the U.S. update of reported cases

UPDATED: August 2015 cases of West Nile Virus in the U.S.

As of August 25, 2015, a total of 44 states and the District of Columbia have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes in 2015.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows— Overall, 303 cases of West Nile virus disease in people have been reported to CDC. Of these, 173 (57%) were classified as neuroinvasive disease (such as meningitis or encephalitis) and 130 (43%) were classified as non-neuroinvasive disease.

Four people in Delaware have tested positive for the West Nile Virus and 3rd case reported in northern Indiana’s St. Joseph County.

Oakland County, Michigan— A crow in Oakland County tests positive for West Nile Virus, Health Division said a state lab had confirmed the test but did not specify where the crow was found. The positive test was confirmed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services laboratory.

Maryland- On August 5, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) confirmed the presence of WNV in mosquitoes collected by MDA personnel in the City of Bowie (Prince George’s County).

Indiana- State Department of Health has said mosquitoes in at least 27 Indiana counties have tested positive for the virus so far in 2015.

State health officials Dr. Dale Deardorff said that the Indiana State Department of Health confirmed the human case. Health officials earlier reported cases in Huntington County near Fort Wayne and central Indiana’s Madison County.

Delaware- In certain areas there are reported cases in New Castle County and one in Kent County – compared with none last year, report said.

Mosquitoes have been especially bad this summer because of early, heavy rains. And their hazard of spreading the potentially deadly virus will last, public health officials said, until cold weather downs the blood-suckers for the season, Delaware Online reported.

Georgia-DeKalb County has found the West Nile virus in mosquitoes in Avondale Estates, according to the county board of health.

On Aug. 7, the Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed the state’s first human case of West Nile virus of the 2015 season, which began in June. The patient recovered, according to the state health department report.

Some of the samples containing the virus came from Lake Avondale.

Health officials cautioned while most people infected with the virus never get sick or develop symptoms similar to a mild flu, the virus can cause a fatal illness.

Tennessee— there are also confirmed reports that the virus has been found in mosquitoes in six areas in Knox County, of West Knoxville — near West Hills, and near Parkside Drive.

The virus transmission of West Nile virus (WNV) is through female mosquitoes, only females feed on blood, which are the prime carrier of the virus. The first reported cases of West Nile Virus in the U.S. was in Queens, New York in 1999. In the first ten years since the virus arrived in the U.S., over 1,100 deaths occurred with human cases reported from every U.S. state except Maine, Alaska and Hawaii.

Its risk factors independently associated with developing a clinical infection with WNV include a suppressed immune system and a patient history of organ transplantation, according to U.S. Health Department.

Source of information on West Nile Virus: CDC.GOV provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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