Sept. 16, 2008
Vol. 38, No. 420                                                                         FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    

Contacts:
DNREC: 302-739-9902
Division of Public Health: 302-744-4707
Delaware Dept. of Agriculture: 302-698-4500   

Delaware's First Human Case of West Nile Virus for 2008 Is Reported

Delaware’s Division of Public Health (DPH) received laboratory confirmation Sept. 12 of Delaware’s first human case of West Nile virus for 2008. The case is a 57-year-old man from Kent County who has not required hospitalization.

Most people infected with West Nile virus do not become ill or experience a very mild flu-like illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 20 percent of those infected will develop West Nile fever, with mild symptoms including fever, headache, body aches, a skin rash on the chest or back and swollen lymph glands. Many cases likely go unreported because individuals do not seek medical attention.

One in 150 people infected develop severe infection (West Nile encephalitis or meningitis) with headache, high fever, stiff neck, and/or tremors and muscle weakness. The elderly and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk. Anyone who experiences any of these severe symptoms should seek medical help immediately. Symptoms may progress to stupor, disorientation, coma, convulsions, paralysis and possibly death.

Delaware’s first confirmed human case of West Nile virus occurred in 2002. In 2003, 17 human cases were confirmed, including two deaths. While there were no reported human cases in 2004 and 2006, two cases were confirmed in 2005 and one in 2007.

West Nile virus has been confirmed in five sentinel chickens this year. No horses or wild birds have been confirmed of having the virus at this time.

To avoid mosquito bites and reduce the risk of infection, residents should:

• Wear insect repellent containing less than 30 percent DEET for adults, less than 10 percent DEET for children;
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants in mosquito-infested areas;
• Avoid peak mosquito activity during dusk, evening or early morning; and
• Drain or remove items that collect water and provide mosquito-breeding habitat, such as buckets, rain barrels, old tires, blocked rain gutters and unused swimming pools.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Mosquito Control Section will increase mosquito population monitoring efforts in the area where the human case of West Nile occurred and then take appropriate mosquito control actions as warranted.

For more information, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm

For information on mosquito control, contact the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control at 302-739-9917.

To report sick or dead wild birds, contact DNREC’s Mosquito Control Section at 302-836-2555 in New Castle County or 302-422-1512 in Kent or Sussex counties.