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HEALTH: Brooks resident is Alberta's first human victim of West Nile virus for 2007

            (AlbertaIndex, July 31, Tuesday) --- Alberta health authority has confirmed the first human case of West Nile virus this year, a week after positive mosquito pools were reported in southern Alberta. The unidentified female adult, a resident of Brooks (185 km southeast of Calgary) in the Palliser Health Region developed flu-like symptoms after she came down with the disease. 

            “This first human case is not unexpected, especially given the warmer than normal conditions we’ve been experiencing across Alberta,” said Dr Shainoor Virani, Acting Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health.
           
“It serves as a reminder for all Albertans to take simple precautions to protect themselves from West Nile virus infection. They should continue protecting themselves against the virus for the rest of the summer.”
            The best protection against West Nile virus is still personal protection. Two of the most important actions are to use mosquito repellents containing DEET, and wear loose-fitting, long-sleeved light-coloured shirts, pants and socks, especially during peak mosquito activity at dawn and dusk.
            Most people who contract West Nile show no symptoms at all and the virus runs its course.
            Fifteen to 20 per cent of cases suffer flu-like symptoms of West Nile non-neurological syndrome: headache, fever, sore muscles and fatigue. In less than one per cent of cases, West Nile neurological syndrome can develop. Symptoms can include more severe headache, neck stiffness, vomiting, muscle weakness, tremors, paralysis and even coma.
            “While the risk of infection with West Nile virus is low the effects of the infection can be very serious,” added Dr Virani. “Taking precautions to avoid mosquito bites will reduce the risk of infection and those more serious consequences.”
            The total number of cases reported in Alberta last year was 40 - one case of neurological syndrome, 38 cases of non-neurological syndrome, and one case with no symptoms.
            Twenty-eight of the cases were reported in the Palliser Health Region. In 2003, Alberta’s first year with West Nile virus, Palliser recorded 129 cases, nearly half the provincial total of 275 that year.

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