Second El Pasoan infected with Neuroinvasive West Nile Virus
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A second El Pasoan has Neuroinvasive West Nile Virus (WNV).
The City of El Paso Department of Public Health announced the second reported case Wednesday.
The patient is a man in his 30s who is currently recovering at a local hospital. The first patient, a man in his 50s, was reported July 19.
City health officials tell ABC-7 that the common symptoms of WNV include fever, headache, tiredness, body aches, nausea, vomiting and swollen lymph glands.
El Paso ordinarily reports a few WNV cases every peek mosquito season. The city has also reported deaths in the past.
Residents are encouraged to follow the four "Ds": Deet, Dress, Dusk and Dawn, and Drain. You should use deet to repel insects while outdoors, wear long clothing to prevent bites, avoid going out at dusk and dawn as those are peak hours for WNV infected mosquitoes, and drain standing water to prevent breeding.
WNV spreads through mosquito bites. The best way to prevent contracting the disease is to avoid being bitten by a mosquito.
The majority of people infected with WNV will never know that they have contracted it, City health experts tell ABC-7. Eight out of ten infected people never develop symptoms. Still, infected people are always as risk, as one out of every 150 will develop a severe illness. One out of every ten severely ill patients will die of WNV.
People 60 and over are at highest risk of developing a severe illness due to WNV. Also, those with certain preexisting conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and those who recently underwent an organ transplant are also at risk.
