PROVO — Two county health departments in Utah are reporting more human cases of West Nile virus on Wednesday, including one that led to the death of a Davis County resident.
The Davis County Health Department said it has seen three reported cases of West Nile virus with two of those cases being neuroinvasive West Nile virus, a more severe form of the disease.
Both of the Davis County individuals who contracted neuroinvasive West Nile virus were hospitalized, with one dying from the disease. No other information was provided about the person who died.
Additionally, the Utah County Health Department confirmed five cases of West Nile virus in humans in the county. Of those five cases, four are neuroinvasive West Nile virus.
“Between the high number of positive mosquito pools and multiple human cases with symptoms, it is clear that West Nile virus is actively being detected across Utah County,” said a release from the department.
The latest cases come on the heels of three other human cases of West Nile virus reported in Salt Lake and Cache counties in August.
Additionally, Utah County Mosquito Abatement crews are conducting additional assessments and have begun applying “targeted treatments” in neighborhoods where the five cases were identified, according to the department.
“These enhanced efforts are intended to reduce mosquito populations and lower the risk of transmission,” it said.
Last year, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services reported 14 cases of West Nile virus, 12 of which were the neuroinvasive form. It reported one Utahn died from the disease in 2023.
Symptoms of West Nile virus, which appear between two and 14 days after a bite, include fever, headache, rash, vomiting, body aches and diarrhea. More severe cases can lead to neurological problems.
The Davis County Health Department states that individuals over 60 and those with weakened immune systems are at the highest risk of illness from West Nile, but anyone can contract the illness from the bite of an infected mosquito.
To prevent contracting West Nile, the Utah County Health Department advises people to:
- Always use insect repellent when outdoors, especially at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.
- Wear long sleeves, pants and socks at dawn and dusk.
- Eliminate standing water around the home, as mosquitoes can breed in just a few days in small containers, buckets, bird baths, flowerpots or clogged gutters.
- Keep doors and windows screened and repair any holes or tears.
- Take extra caution if you are older or immunocompromised and at higher risk for severe illness.
This story may be updated.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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