Sep
24
Miami Man Becomes First Local Case of West Nile Virus in 2011
The Miami-Dade County Health Department has confirmed that a 27-year-old local man has become the first human to contract West Nile virus locally this year. The patient first began feeling ill in early-to-mid August. He sought medical treatment and was admitted to a local hospital, where tests showed he was positive for the virus. He had no history of traveling outside the county during the incubation period.
The county health department revealed that the man contracted the disease from a mosquito bite. He has since fully recovered from the disease, according to a health department representative.
The last locally acquired case of West Nile virus was in 2009. Five years before that, two people in the county died from the disease.
West Nile is an illness acquired from mosquito bites. Symptoms of this disease may include headache, fever, fatigue, dizziness, weakness, rash, and confusion.
The county’s Mosquito Control Division urges all residents to drain any standing water and cover any containers to prevent the insects from laying their eggs. Residents are also urged to cover their skin with protective clothing, apply mosquito repellent, and protect children younger than two months old with mosquito netting.
Source: Miami Herald