DuPage County Reports First Human Case of West Nile

A woman in her late 40s was diagnosed with the disease in Lombard

The first human West Nile Virus case of 2019 has been reported in DuPage County, the Health Department announced in a press release Tuesday.

A Lombard woman was diagnosed with the disease in late August, according to an email. Her case is one of four reported statewide so far this year.

That diagnosis, along with a recent increase in mosquitoes testing positive for the disease, has prompted county healthy officials to step up their calls for the public to take steps to protect themselves from insect bites.

West Nile is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, and approximately one in five people infected with the disease will develop symptoms, including fever, headache, rash, aches, joint pain, and vomiting.

Less than one person of those infected with the disease will develop serious neurological illnesses.

County health officials advise residents to eliminate sources of standing water around their homes, to use insect repellent containing DEET, to wear long pants and long sleeves while enjoying the outdoors, and to avoid outside time around dusk and dawn, the time of day when mosquitoes are most active.

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