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August 10, 2006
By STEVE KADEL
H&N Staff Writer
A Modoc County man has been diagnosed with West Nile virus,
joining three Oregonians from Malheur County who have the infection. Linda
Doyle, Modoc County Public Health Department nurse, said it was the county's
first case. Doyle said the man, who is more than 50 years old, is improving.
“We knew (the virus) was close,”
she said, referring to a horse that tested positive a few days ago in
Ravendale, Calif., 54 miles south of Alturas.
The three Malheur County residents are recovering.
No West Nile virus cases have been
reported this year in Klamath or Lake counties, public health nurses said
Wednesday.
West Nile virus is usually seen in birds. It can be spread when a mosquito
feeds on an infected bird, then bites a human.
Symptoms are mild for most people, and many do not know they have the virus.
Only 20 percent of the cases result in flu-like illness, said the Oregon
Department of Human Services in a news release. One out of 150 such cases
causes inflammation of the brain, resulting in serious illness or death, he
said. The worst cases strike people 50 or older.
Amy Markum, Klamath County public health nurse, said there haven't been many
calls reporting birds suspected of having the disease.
“It's been pretty doggone quiet,” she said, “but it bears watching.
People should be aware and use bug repellent.”
Recent hot weather provided prime mosquito-breeding conditions.
While the public health office will take calls about birds suspected of having the illness, they refer cases to vector control manager Mike Morstad.
“Usually birds come down with it first,” Morstad said.
Two birds were tested in Klamath County this year, he said, but results were
negative. If birds have the virus, it can be detected by antibodies in the
blood.
Two scrub jays tested positive in Klamath County last year, Morstad said.
Vector Control has three “sentinel
flocks” of chickens that undergo blood tests every other week to see if the
virus is present.
The Malheur cases are the first human West Nile virus cases reported in Oregon
this year. Oregon had eight reported human cases in 2005, and five cases a
year earlier, according to the Department of Human Services.
West Nile Virus was first reported in the United States in
1999, and has been making its way across country. So far this year, 192 cases
have been reported in the United States. Six were fatal.
Minimizing risk
The Modoc County Public Health
Department urges people to decrease risk of contracting West Nile Virus with
the four D's:
