2008 Woodie Awards
West Nile Virus Claims Twelfth Victim
California surpasses Arizona as the state with most reported WNV cases.
Claudia Lozano
Issue date: 9/8/04 Section: News
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The West Nile Virus has settled in California and is spreading at an alarming rate, with a total of 430 reported cases, including 12 deaths in the state. Passing Arizona's 309 case-count, California leads with the highest number of fatalities in the nation.
The latest victim, an elderly man, died Tuesday after battling the virus for two months. Experts first detected the virus in Southern California in Los Angeles, Imperial and Riverside counties in 2003. This year Los Angeles County has reported 124 cases of the virus, more than both San Bernardino and Riverside Counties combined.
"I wasn't aware this virus could be so harmful," said Valley student Diana Perez. "I'd heard of it in the news but didn't really pay too much attention to it."
The California Department of Health Services has confirmed that mosquitoes collected from south Sacramento tested positive for West Nile Virus according to The Centers for Disease Control.
The disease-causing virus, first detected in 1937 in a woman from the West Nile region of Uganda is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Contrary to popular belief, the virus is rarely transmitted through contaminated blood transfusions.
By 1999 the virus made its way to the United States and was recognized as a cause of meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain) or encephalitis (an inflammation of the spinal cord and brain).
Although there are no antibiotics that can fight this virus it is not contagious through human contact alone. More than 80 percent of those infected don't experience symptoms and the virus only rarely proves to be fatal. According to an article from the Los Angeles Times fewer than 1 percent of cases lead to death.
Symptoms vary and may include but are not limited to fevers, nausea, stiff neck, disorientation, muscle weakness, paralysis, tremors, convulsions and in some cases, permanent neurological damage.
"The concern should not be 'Will I get it?' but, 'How can I prevent it?'" said Sonia Nodal, Valley College Student Health Center staff member.
The latest victim, an elderly man, died Tuesday after battling the virus for two months. Experts first detected the virus in Southern California in Los Angeles, Imperial and Riverside counties in 2003. This year Los Angeles County has reported 124 cases of the virus, more than both San Bernardino and Riverside Counties combined.
"I wasn't aware this virus could be so harmful," said Valley student Diana Perez. "I'd heard of it in the news but didn't really pay too much attention to it."
The California Department of Health Services has confirmed that mosquitoes collected from south Sacramento tested positive for West Nile Virus according to The Centers for Disease Control.
The disease-causing virus, first detected in 1937 in a woman from the West Nile region of Uganda is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Contrary to popular belief, the virus is rarely transmitted through contaminated blood transfusions.
By 1999 the virus made its way to the United States and was recognized as a cause of meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain) or encephalitis (an inflammation of the spinal cord and brain).
Although there are no antibiotics that can fight this virus it is not contagious through human contact alone. More than 80 percent of those infected don't experience symptoms and the virus only rarely proves to be fatal. According to an article from the Los Angeles Times fewer than 1 percent of cases lead to death.
Symptoms vary and may include but are not limited to fevers, nausea, stiff neck, disorientation, muscle weakness, paralysis, tremors, convulsions and in some cases, permanent neurological damage.
"The concern should not be 'Will I get it?' but, 'How can I prevent it?'" said Sonia Nodal, Valley College Student Health Center staff member.
