Nebraska Reports First Human West Nile Virus Infection In 2021 Season

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska Confirmed First Human West Nile virus infection for the 2021 season.

DHHS said the infection was found in the area of Elkhorn-Logan Valley Public Health Unit, which covers Stanton, Madison, Cuming and Burt counties. The infected person was not hospitalized, according to a press release from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The announcement follows the July 22 report that the DHHS had West Nile detected in two mosquito pools in Scottsbluff County. The agency began its monitoring program in June.

The virus is the most common mosquito-borne illness in the United States, according to the release, and Nebraska’s infection rate is among the highest in the country. In 2020, the state recorded one death from West Nile among 15 infected people, 10 of whom required hospitalization, the DHHS said.

The disease has been detected in Nebraska every year since 2002, the DHHS said more than 4,000 people have been infected since then and 86 have died.

Symptoms include fatigue, eye pain, fever, vomiting. Some infected people will have no symptoms and less than 1% will develop meningitis or encephalitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the brain, the DHHS said.

To avoid infection, the agency said, people should wear long-sleeved shirts, pants and socks outside, drain standing water, avoid being outside at dusk and dawn. – when mosquitoes are most active – and use an insect repellent containing DEET.

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