FORT WAYNE – Health officials reported this year’s first human case of West Nile in Allen County on Friday.
Indiana state health officials said Friday that an Allen County resident has tested positive for the virus on an initial test. Another human case also was reported in Marion County.
Further testing is needed to confirm the local case is West Nile. The case was not fatal, said Dave Fiess, director of vector control and environmental services for the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health.
Officials did not release details as to the age of the person or severity of the illness, citing medical confidentiality.
Most people infected with the virus exhibit no symptoms, Fiess said, and fewer than 20 percent experience mild flu-like symptoms or fever. Few are believed to seek treatment or testing, he said.
A lot of West Nile cases are not reported because people think it’s just a slight flu, Fiess said.
“They recover from it.”
Severe cases can cause neurological symptoms like paralysis, the health department said.
Human cases are detected more frequently in August and September, when mosquitoes are more active. Even as the seasons change and temperatures cool, mosquitoes will remain a threat until the second hard frost, the health department said.
Spraying in areas where mosquitoes test positive for the virus has grown steadily over the past few weeks throughout the county. And spraying will likely continue next week, Fiess said.
“They love this hot, dry water,” he said of the type of mosquitoes found carrying the virus here. Those mosquitoes are making themselves at home in what little water is left in gutters or roadside ditches.
As health department crews survey areas where mosquitoes test positive, they are finding plastic children’s pools that have turned green. Above-ground pools are also being neglected, and homeowners aren’t maintaining their birdbaths or fountains, Fiess said.
The dry weather and the wet, dirty conditions provide the perfect combination for the mosquitoes to lay more eggs and multiply, he said.
“We’re asking the community to still maintain their property. Flush out the birdbath once a week. Put the kiddie pools away,” Fiess said.
And to protect themselves from being bitten or becoming ill, residents should wear bug spray whenever they are outdoors, he said.
