Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - A Pierceton Medical Clinic physician diagnosed West Nile virus in a 46-year-old Wabash County resident last week, the only incidence of the virus in a human in the state.
The patient was sent to Whitley Memorial Hospital for further observation, held several days and released.
According to Kosciusko County Health Department administrator and chief scientist Bob Weaver, the virus is not contagious and is transmitted to humans through night-time biting mosquitoes.
The Wabash County resident had spent a considerable amount of time this summer in Allen County, where 35 dead birds - either crows, blue jays or raptors - have tested positive for the virus, the most of any county in the state, Weaver said.
There are no reported cases of West Nile virus in either birds or mammals in Kosciusko County.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, residents of areas where the West Nile virus has been identified are at risk of getting West Nile encephalitis, which causes the brain to swell. People older than 50 years have the highest risk of severe disease.
Most infections are mild, and symptoms include fever, headache and body aches, occasionally accompanied by a skin rash and swollen lymph glands. More severe infection may be marked by headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, paralysis and, rarely, death.
