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Jul 25 2007 7:10PM
KXMBTV Bismarck
The first death related to West Nile virus this year has happened in southeastern North Dakota.
State health officials say a male over the age of 60, who had underlying medical conditions, died while hospitalized.
No other details of the death have been released. Michelle Feist of the Health Department says this year, it looks like the state is ahead of the game in terms of mosquito numbers and virus cases.
(MIchelle Feist, WNV Surveillance Coordinator) "So far in 2007, there have been a total of 25 human West Nile Virus illnesses in the state and these come from a total of 13 counties in North Dakota."
Chief Field Medical Officer Dr. Craig Lambrecht says everyone is at risk of getting the virus, including young people. Lambrecht also says people should be aware that the virus symptoms are similar to heat exhaustion.
(Dr. Craig Lambrecht, Chief Field Medical Officer) "We can have a little bit of a confounding scenario with regards to symptoms because heat exhaustion can present achiness, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, headache, and just feeling rundown. Well, guess what? Those are similar symptoms of West Nile virus. So for those providers out there, they might be seeing a lot of these people with similar symptoms and it may be difficult to kind of sift through the symptoms and decide could this be West Nile, could it be heat exhaustion...do we wait a couple of days?"
State health officials say to reduce the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes of West Nile virus, use insect repellent containing Deet and limit outdoor activity between dusk and dawn. Keeping grass trimmed and getting rid of standing water is also recommended.
KXMBTV Bismarck
The first death related to West Nile virus this year has happened in southeastern North Dakota.
State health officials say a male over the age of 60, who had underlying medical conditions, died while hospitalized.
No other details of the death have been released. Michelle Feist of the Health Department says this year, it looks like the state is ahead of the game in terms of mosquito numbers and virus cases.
(MIchelle Feist, WNV Surveillance Coordinator) "So far in 2007, there have been a total of 25 human West Nile Virus illnesses in the state and these come from a total of 13 counties in North Dakota."
Chief Field Medical Officer Dr. Craig Lambrecht says everyone is at risk of getting the virus, including young people. Lambrecht also says people should be aware that the virus symptoms are similar to heat exhaustion.
(Dr. Craig Lambrecht, Chief Field Medical Officer) "We can have a little bit of a confounding scenario with regards to symptoms because heat exhaustion can present achiness, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, headache, and just feeling rundown. Well, guess what? Those are similar symptoms of West Nile virus. So for those providers out there, they might be seeing a lot of these people with similar symptoms and it may be difficult to kind of sift through the symptoms and decide could this be West Nile, could it be heat exhaustion...do we wait a couple of days?"
State health officials say to reduce the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes of West Nile virus, use insect repellent containing Deet and limit outdoor activity between dusk and dawn. Keeping grass trimmed and getting rid of standing water is also recommended.
