Two more Nebraska cases of West Nile reported

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By The Associated Press

Two more cases of West Nile virus were reported to the state this week, bringing the Nebraska total to 14 so far this year.

The state Department of Health and Human Services said the new cases involve a Knox County man age 14 to 25 and a Seward County man age 51 to 64.

Three previous cases were reported in Hall County, and one each was reported in Boone, Thayer, Lincoln, Platte, Adams, Buffalo, Lancaster, Garden and Scotts Bluff counties.

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West Nile is transmitted through mosquito bites from insects that picked up the virus by feeding on infected birds.

Nine blue jays and crows have tested positive for West Nile this year — one each in Scotts Bluff, Douglas, Sarpy and Cass counties; two in Wayne County and three in Lancaster County. Dead birds are collected by local health departments for testing.

Mosquitoes in at least 10 counties also have tested positive for the disease: Scotts Bluff, Garden, Sheridan, Lincoln, Dawes, Dawson, Chase, Cherry, Holt and Lancaster, the state said.

Last year, 264 human cases of the disease were reported, compared with 188 in 2005, 57 in 2004, 2,366 in 2003 and 174 in 2002. There were no cases before 2002, the year the disease found its way to Nebraska from the East Coast. At least two deaths were reported last year.

Less than one out of 150 people who get bitten by an infected mosquito and become infected will get seriously ill. West Nile fever includes flulike symptoms such as fever and muscle weakness. Symptoms of West Nile encephalitis include inflammation of the brain, disorientation, convulsions and paralysis.

People over 50 and those with weak immune systems are especially vulnerable to the disease.