John Miller, UT- 2nd story

Washington County man warns people about West Nile viral infection
By The Associated Press

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- In July, 21-year-old John Miller was working full time and had enrolled at Dixie State College. By August, he was so sick that doctors ordered tests to see if he had a brain tumor.

It turns out he was infected with the West Nile virus.

Miller has survived the toughest part of the illness, but he and his parents say they want people to know more about the infection. An unidentified southern Utah man died this month from complications of the infection, health officials said.

From the beginning of August, Miller had been dealing with painful headaches, a symptom his mother Darlene thought may have been the result of the dust from the cabinet shop where he was working.

Then the symptoms got worse. Miller had chills, aches, nausea and weakness -- in addition to the headaches. He saw a doctor who ordered a scan for a possible brain tumor.

Miller developed a rash. His mother was worried enough to take him to the Southwest Skin and Cancer Center to see specialists, who suggested returning to his family doctor and getting tested for mononucleosis.

Just before Labor Day, one of the specialists suggested Miller be tested for the West Nile virus. On Sept. 6, the test results showed that he had been exposed to the virus although the acute symptoms were gone.

"It was frustrating not to know what he had," Darlene Miller said. "When they found out it was almost a relief, but scary at the same time because people are dying of it."

Now, the Millers hope to use John's experience to help raise awareness about West Nile virus in Washington County.

"When the man in Vernal died, I thought, people have got to know," said John's father, Doug Miller.

On Sept. 12, the state Department of Health publicly confirmed the state's first West Nile-related fatality. The Health Department said only that the man was from Uintah County and older than 65.

John's now sensitive to light and loud noises, and he has good and bad days.

"Even still, I have headaches right now," he said. "They gave me medication for that, which hasn't worked very well."

Miller was told by doctors that symptoms typically last up to two months, so he's looking forward to returning to work, school and dating.

He acknowledged that he's never been vigilant about wearing mosquito repellent, especially after returning five months ago from a mission in the Philippines where he was bitten every day.

Children and the elderly are more susceptible to West Nile infections, which can be transmitted through mosquito bites. For most people, the risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus is low.

At least 23 people in Utah have gotten sick from the infection this year, health statistics show.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been at least 18 deaths nationally this year.

Information from: The Spectrum, http://www.thespectrum.com

Rusty-Equine West Nile Virus Victim

Saturday, September 17, 2005
Print Article | Email Article
Heartbreak comes to horse-loving family
Bob Brownne
Tracy Press

Published on Saturday, September 17, 2005, in the Tracy Press.
The heartbreak of West Nile Virus hit a Banta family earlier this month.

Nancy Barney said that “Rusty,” who died on Sept. 5, had been with the family for only a couple of years after her sister, Valerie Rhoden of Castro Valley, saw him living the easy life in a pasture and bought him.

Barney’s husband, Gary, saw that Rusty had the personality and experience of a talented rodeo horse. Gary began to take Rusty to events, including an American Cowboy Team Roping Association tournament in Reno last October, where they learned a little bit more about Rusty’s history.

“This guy says, ‘Where’d you get this horse?’” Nancy Barney recalls. “He said (Rusty) had won a lot of money in Texas where he was born and bred.”

It turned out the inquisitive man was Rusty Rice of Terrell, Texas, a national director of the roping association and a well-known horse rancher. He was the one who raised Rusty and gave him his distinctive double-R brand.

“And he remembered this horse after 16 years,” Barney said.

She isn’t certain about Rusty’s age, but figures he was 18 to 20 years old, which is old enough to retire from most rodeo competition but not too old to stay on the job.

Barney said he fit right in at her job, which is to chase down exuberant racehorses at Golden Gate Fields in Albany when they stray from the track.

“My horse I usually ride was lame so I took him in,” she said.

Rusty was on the job for about a month. “He did the job and he did it well,” Barney said.

But it was on one of these trips to the racetrack that they saw Rusty was ill. Barney said Rusty appeared to trip and fall, his back legs going under the back of the travel trailer, as he stepped into the trailer, then fell again coming out of the trailer when they got to the track.

They called in some veterinarians, who said Rusty could have pulled some leg muscles or was just tired. But there were a couple more falls, and by the fourth day, his condition was worse. Barney said a veterinarian who works with racehorses finally delivered the bad news.

“The horse was so dramatically different than the day before and he said his chances for recovery were slim,” she said.

Rusty was euthanized on Sept. 5 and through the racetrack Barney was able to get an autopsy done. Tests confirmed that he had a severe case of West Nile virus.

Barney said she and her family are especially sad because they knew Rusty and the family’s half-dozen other horses were vulnerable to the disease and they tried to prevent it. The disease is spread by mosquitoes, which pass it along to birds, horses and people.

Barney had seen the dead birds around Banta and had made sure all of their horses were vaccinated. Rusty, though, still hadn’t received a booster shot that would have improved his immunity.

Gregory Ferraro, director of the Center for Equine Health at UC Davis, said what happened to Rusty is typical of horses that come down with severe cases of West Nile virus.

“The older horses are more susceptible to the more severe forms,” Ferraro said.

Even with vaccines, it takes several weeks for an older horse to build up immunity, he added.

Symptoms in horses can range from mild muscle tremors to the inability to stand up. He said about 40 percent of the horses that get sick in California have died, and of those that recover, as many as one in five could relapse and die later on.

“There are many more horses that get bitten, get the disease and throw it off with their own immune systems,” Ferraro said.

“For every (infected) horse that shows clinical symptoms, there are probably four that don’t.”

To reach reporter Bob Brownne call 830-4227 or e-mail brownne@tracypress.com.

Irving Shoebridge, MI--Victim

West Nile claims first state victim this year

Web-posted Sep 17, 2005

By KANIQUA S. DANIEL
Of The Oakland Press

A Wayne County resident died Thursday after testing positive for the West Nile virus last month at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital.

The state's first fatal West Nile case this year, Irving Shoebridge, 74, of Melvindale was hospitalized at Beaumont Hospital when diagnosed, said his wife, Mary Shoebridge. He remained there Aug. 5 through Sept. 2, then was transferred to Wyandotte Hospital in Wayne County, where he died.

West Nile is a mosquito-borne virus. Specialists warn of standing water, which attracts the Culex mosquitoes that carry the virus.

"You never think it could happen to you or someone you love, but it happened," Mary Shoebridge said. "People need to be more aware of their surroundings. I think he got it right in our back yard."

After suffering a high fever and flulike symptoms, Shoebridge said her husband first checked into Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, but hospital staff members were unable to determine the cause of his illness.

"He became sick July 29," said Shoebridge, 65. "It continued for about a week, then we went to Oakwood Hospital ... On Aug. 5, he checked into Beaumont. They ran every test they could, and couldn't find anything at first. Then they did a spinal tap on Aug. 10 and sent it to the state to be tested."

Shoebridge said the results came back in two weeks verifying that her husband had contracted the West Nile virus. According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, there are six confirmed cases, total, in the state this year, with three in Wayne County. The other cases are in Grand Traverse and Kent counties.

A 57-year-old Pontiac man was diagnosed with the virus Sept. 2 - the first Oakland County resident with West Nile this year - but was expected to recover, said George Miller, manager of the Oakland County Health Division.

The county had one confirmed case and one probable case in 2004. During summer 2002, West Nile killed 51 people in Michigan, and 20 in Oakland County.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, www.cdc.gov, reports people age 50 and older have the highest risk of death from the disease. Because there is no cure, the site states that in severe cases, intensive supportive therapy is suggested involving hospitalization, intravenous fl uids, airway management, respiratory support (ventilator), prevention of secondary infections and good nursing care.

Shoebridge said her husband was in intensive care for most of his stay at Beaumont because he could not breathe on his own and was nearly paralyzed from the virus.

Prior to being diagnosed with West Nile, Irving Shoebridge had a condition called myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by varying degrees of muscle weakness.

Shoebridge, however, said it didn't affect her husband's health as he was able to walk two miles each day and golf. Through tears, she said he was in so much pain from the virus that he said he wanted to die.

John Miller, UT

Article published Sep 16, 2005
Man battles West Nile virus

Family wants public to gain awareness

By RACHEL TUELLER
rtueller@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE - As of July of this year, Washington County resident John Miller led a lifestyle common to many 21-year-olds.

He held a full-time job and was enrolled for classes at Dixie State College.

But things changed quickly in August when bouts of sickness ranging from severe head and body aches, rashes and chills led him and his family on a near month-long search that involved multiple doctors and numerous tests, only to discover Miller had been living with West Nile Virus.

Miller remembers Aug. 19, when he became the sickest.

From the first of August, Miller had been contending with painful headaches, a symptom his mother Darlene thought may have been the result of the dust from the cabinet shop he was working at full-time.

But when John went to work on a Monday morning the symptoms started getting worse - enough that after a few hours, the headache, along with the chills, side aches, nausea and weakness that now accompanied it on the 19th, sent him home, then to the doctor's office. After describing his pain to the doctor, Miller was tested for a brain tumor, a CAT scan was conducted, but results came back negative.

Two days later, Miller woke up with a rash. Small red dots covered his body. The dots weren't bumps, but Darlene worried enough to take him to the Southwest Skin and Cancer Center to see specialists Scott Condie and Dean Duke, who suggested returning to his family practitioner and suggested conducting blood tests for mononucleosis. Those tests also turned up negative.

Just before Labor Day, Duke again contacted Miller's family doctor to recommend blood tests for West Nile Virus. The family spent five days wondering. The Tuesday after Labor Day they called for his test results and were told John was exposed to the illness and that although the acute symptoms were gone, the chronic cells remained in his blood.

When John's parents first learned of his diagnosis, their emotions were mixed. On one hand they finally knew what illness had been inflicting their son after a frustrating and long process with doctors and a battery of tests. On the other, they became worried about the information they read on the Internet about the potential of the virus. Doug was concerned when he read that in some it might lead to memory loss, coma, encephalitis, meningitis or even death.

"It was frustrating not to know what he had. When they found out it was almost a relief, but scary at the same time because people are dying of it," said Darlene.

But today John and his parents breathe a bit easier knowing he made it through the toughest part of the illness but they wanted to get the word out and are hopeful their experience creates awareness of West Nile's presence in Washington County.

"West Nile never occurred to me because he's been here and there's only been some cases of some birds or chickens and some horses reported," his father, Doug, said. "I kept reading in the paper about a horse that died in Washington County. When the man in Vernal died, I thought, people have got to know."

For John, the virus hasn't been so much painful as it is annoying. He's sensitive to light and loud noises and he has good and bad days. "Even still, I have headaches right now," he said. "They gave me medication for that, which hasn't worked very well."

John was told by doctors that symptoms typically last up to two months, so he's hopeful he'll soon be through the woods and looks forward most to returning to work and other usual regimes like school, and dating again, as his father teases.

John admits that he's never been vigilant about wearing repellent, especially after returning five months ago from a mission in the Philippines where he was bitten every day. But, he never contracted malaria or any other diseases and doctors indicated he's likely immune to the virus now.

Doug and Darlene say until now, they've never done much to protect themselves from mosquito bites, either. Darlene's allergies to DEET kept her from using repellent and Doug never sustained many bites. But today they both take measures to cover up when outside.

After the incident with his son, Doug is now reconsidering his plans to move and retire to New Harmony where the family recently purchased property - a locale where he's noticed significantly more mosquitoes than at his Washington City home.

Doug hopes county commissioners from both Washington and Iron counties will consider putting more money into mosquito abatement, especially in areas where irrigation water sits.

Dezie Woods Jones, CA

West Nile strikes ex-lawmaker
Former Oakland City Council member hospitalized for a month in Fresno
Inside Bay Area

Former Oakland City Councilmember Dezie Woods Jones is recovering in a Fresno rehabilitation center from a severe West Nile virus attack.
She has been hospitalized in Fresno for a month from the illness, which she contracted in Madera, a city near Fresno, where she and her new husband live.

They were married in a large formal wedding at Allen Temple Baptist Church in June and moved into a new home they had built in Madera.

Woods Jones is well-known in Oakland for her long tenure on the council and as president of the Black Women Organized for Political Action.

Cards and letters would be appreciated as she recovers. The family requests friends to send mail to her home at 13892 Killarney, Madera, CA 93638.

Amber Hopf, South Dakota

For Aberdeen woman, West Nile virus has been a long, painful journey

Associated Press
Posted on Sun, Sep. 11, 2005
ABERDEEN, S.D. - More than two years after Amber Hopf contracted West Nile virus, she still hasn't recovered fully and the 21-year-old wonders whether she ever will.

"People don't understand how scary it is until they're in that spot," said Hopf of Aberdeen. "It's the sickest I've ever been, and hopefully the sickest I will ever be."

Hopf thinks she got mosquito-borne virus on July 27, 2003, while she dined with friends on the deck of a Mina Lake home.

"I had more than 50 bites," she said, even though she wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and took other precautions that Sunday evening.

Later, it led to viral meningitis.

Hopf said her recovery has been long and painful, and she still lacks energy.

"I can't go a full day without a 10-minute nap, at least," said Hopf, a student at North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D. "I just had my routine annual physical and my blood counts are off. That's where my frustration comes in. There's still a lot of proof in my body that I had it."

Kathy Hopf, of Aberdeen, said her daughter has faced a variety of problems because of West Nile including permanent optical nerve damage.

"We don't know how many things were affected, or what else we may find out in the next five to 10 years," Hopf said.

She said it was an eye-opener to realize young people who contract the virus can end up with a serious disease such as meningitis. More commonly, such complications happen to older people.

Early in the progression of the disease, Amber was hospitalized for six days, mainly for dehydration. Fever and vomiting plagued her. She lost about 30 pounds from August to December 2003, she said.

There were times when she couldn't walk more than a half block without falling down, her mother said.

While Amber missed the first two weeks of the 2003 fall semester at NDSU, she was able to take a reduced load that semester and did most of her class work from her parents' home in Aberdeen.

"Thank God I passed my classes. My professors were really nice about it," Amber said.

Now that she knows what West Nile can do, Amber said she wants to help others avoid it.

"People need to watch out for each other," she said.

She also hopes the city of Aberdeen will beef up its mosquito-control efforts so that others might be spared what she endured.

"It's not buggy in Fargo," Amber said. "I could go to the park every day this summer to read or play Frisbee and not worry about mosquitoes. But in Aberdeen people can't have fun outside and just enjoy a summer."

Brown County has some the highest numbers of West Nile cases in the state and many of them have been in Aberdeen.

"It's important that we work together," said Bryan Hopf, Amber's father. Homes and businesses should do their part, "but there are so many places in Aberdeen that are public," he said.

Mayor Mike Levsen said he is confident the city is doing everything it can.

When state Department of Health officials recently visited Aberdeen to promote West Nile prevention, Levsen said they praised the city's efforts.

"I know people are frustrated. No one likes to be bit by mosquitoes," Levsen said. "We all want the city to be totally mosquito free, but that's impossible. We're doing as much as we can."

Ronni Nann, Michael Johansen, Dana Andrews, CA

Tales of survival
For the unlucky handful with grave symptoms, the virus doesn't have to be life-threatening to be devastating
By Dorsey Griffith -- Bee Medical Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, September 11, 2005
Story appeared in Metro section, Page B1

For some people who contract West Nile virus - the small percentage who develop the most serious forms of the illness - the only silver lining is that they probably never will get sick again from the mosquito-borne disease.
Survivors of the most serious infections have trouble finding words to describe the prolonged misery they endured as a result of a tiny insect bite.

"I felt like my brain was short-circuiting," said 40-year-old Ronni Nann of Antelope.

"I felt like I got hit by a truck," said Dana Andrews, a 48-year-old from Land Park.

"My legs felt like someone stuck a knife in them and wiggled it around," said Michael Johansen, 45, of Stockton.

Sacramento County is the state's top producer of West Nile cases this year, with 129 logged as of Friday, and California leads the nation with 593 cases.

The number of people actually infected with West Nile is believed to be far higher, since four out of five people who contract the virus won't experience symptoms. Twenty percent of those infected will get symptoms that can be as mild as flulike fever, body aches and rash. Only one in 150 will experience the most serious consequences: central nervous system problems such as disabling paralysis, brain inflammation or meningitis that can lead to death.

But the unlucky ones who do get sick describe an illness that surpasses just about anything they've suffered.

"It's like 10 times the worst flu I have ever had," said Johansen, who considers himself an otherwise healthy man. "I needed help even to go to the bathroom."

While they don't reflect the most common West Nile cases, the stories of Johansen, Nann and Andrews help illustrate how serious the disease can be, even in relatively young people. They also shed light on the wide spectrum of illnesses caused by the virus, including symptoms that may never entirely disappear.

Johansen, who runs a machine shop in Fremont, frets he may never again be able to work running mills and lathes and other shop equipment at full capacity.

About a week after his first symptoms - the excruciating leg pains, fever and sore joints - Johansen lost movement of his left shoulder.

That was Aug. 23. To this day, he said, he can move his fingers but can't lift his elbow. He eventually was diagnosed with West Nile meningitis - an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord - and later with a related case of brachial neuritis, inflammation of the nerves that allow movement of the arm.

"I don't know how I am going to work," said Johansen, who temporarily is collecting disability payments. "I find even three hours of physical work feels like 15 hours of work. But I need to be there. I don't want to lose my job."

The nerve damage that in rare cases occurs with West Nile has been referred to as acute flaccid paralysis. It also is being called polio-like syndrome.

"The virus gets into the spinal cord and picks only the nerve cells that control the muscles," explained Dr. David Richman, a neurology professor at UC Davis Medical Center. He said researchers cannot predict how permanent the nerve damage will be in any particular patient.

A recently published study of 32 patients who had West Nile-related paralysis in Colorado found that half still had the condition four months after the illness set in.

Nann, of Antelope, was luckier, in that she never lost the ability to move a limb. But her case proved surprisingly serious as well.

"I spent my 40th birthday in the hospital," said the stay-at-home mom.

Nann suffered for a week with high fever and diarrhea before her symptoms really began to worry her.

"I slept for two days straight," she said. "About a week after that, I started getting the headache. It started out with some weird dizziness. It felt like my brain was short-circuiting. My vision was a little blurry."

Nann went to the emergency room, where she was told to check in with her regular doctor the next day. That's when a spinal tap confirmed the meningitis. More than a week later, the West Nile test results came back positive. She spent five days in the hospital.

Even after she went home, she felt anything but herself. "My mom had to come and stay with us for 2 1/2 weeks because I was so weak," she said. "Even a shower exhausted me."

Seven weeks later, she said, she is easily fatigued and needs naps of up to two hours a day.

Even those whose symptoms don't escalate to a neuroinvasive illness - those diagnosed with West Nile fevers - can feel lousy for weeks.

"We used to say, 'As long as it's not a neuroinvasive case, don't worry about it,' " said Dr. Carol Glaser, chief of the viral disease laboratory at the state Department of Health Services. "We all have an acceptance now that West Nile fevers are not as benign as we thought."

A recent study out of Illinois found that West Nile fever patients typically felt exhausted for at least a month and had muscle weakness for nearly as long. About a third required hospitalization.

Even more intriguing, study authors found, was that the duration of illness was not associated with the patient's age.

That may be of some consolation to Andrews, the Land Park man who got sick last month.

"I was relieved to know what I had," Andrews said, "but I felt like a chump for not being one of the 80 percent (who had no symptoms)."

Fit and active, the stay-at-home dad had joked with his wife that his symptoms could be those of West Nile when he fell ill Aug. 9.

He had a fever and body aches for nearly a week before he went to his doctor. An initial West Nile test came back negative, and soon Andrews felt well again, even venturing to the beach one day.

"In the middle of the following week, I got the rash, and by Friday I couldn't get out of bed. I was in bed for seven days. I had a very severe headache. When I coughed, it felt like I was going to explode."

Andrews was retested, and on Aug. 26 learned he had West Nile virus.

Andrews began feeling stronger early last week, well enough to tackle overdue projects in his back yard and garage.

"The next day, I woke up and felt like I had gone back four days," he said. "Now, I'm afraid to do too much."



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WEST NILE AT A GLANCE
Here's a summary of information about West Nile virus in the region, the measures taken to deal with it, and tips to avoid it:
Reported human cases of the disease in regional counties: Sacramento, 129; Stanislaus, 65; San Joaquin, 26; Placer, 23; Butte, 15; Yolo, 10; Sutter, seven; Solano, three; Tehama, two; Yuba, two; Nevada, one; Plumas, one; Solano, one.

Where to get information

* To report a dead bird, call (877) 968-2473. (WNV-BIRD)

* Sacramento and Yolo counties: Residents can request mosquitofish, report untreated pools of standing water, get aerial spraying information and sign up for e-mail notification of local insecticide treatments by calling the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District at (800) 429-1022 or (916) 685-1022, or at www.fightthebite.net.

* Placer County: Residents can get information and obtain mosquitofish by calling the Placer Mosquito Abatement District at (916) 435-2140.

For updates and changes to the ground-spraying schedule, go to www.roseville.ca.us or call (916) 435-2140.

For other information, call the Placer County West Nile virus line at (530) 889-4001 or go to www.placermosquito.org or www.placer.ca.gov/wnv.

* Butte County: Residents can go to www.buttecountypublichealth. org, or call (800) 339-2941.

* Anyone with concerns about the health effects of spraying can call the California Poison Control number at (800) 876-4766.

* Other Web sites: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov; state Department of Health Services, www.westnile.ca.gov.

Prevention tips

To reduce the risk of catching West Nile virus, the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District recommends:

* Use an effective mosquito repellent containing ingredients such as DEET, Picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.

* Repair tears in door and window screens.

* Drain standing water.

* Wear long pants and long sleeves outdoors when practical.

* Avoid being outside at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.

About the writer:
The Bee's Dorsey Griffith can be reached at (916) 321-1089 or dgriffith@sacbee.com.


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Norm Mansfield, IL

West Nile is back; 89 in state have it

BY STEPHANIE FOSNIGHT
STAFF WRITER

Three years ago this week, Norm Mansfield was in a coma.

"I thought it was pretty weird that, in all the things I'd lived through in 59 years, a mosquito could do me in," said the 62-year-old Mansfield.

Mansfield was one of the 884 Illinois residents to contract the West Nile virus in 2002, the year Illinois led the nation in human cases. While 2003 and 2004 brought only 54 and 60 cases, respectively, health officials caution this year could be as bad as the 2002 outbreak that killed 67 people.

"At this point, it looks similar, in terms of the number of cases and the weather patterns," said Dr. Craig Conover, an infectious disease specialist with the Illinois Department of Public Health. "It's certainly worrisome."

As of Friday, 89 cases had been reported in Illinois, with 46 in suburban Cook County and 18 in Chicago. There have been 13 in DuPage and seven in Kane counties. Lake, Will and St. Clair counties have had one case each, and there have been two in Peoria County. A 92-year-old suburban Cook County woman died of the disease Aug. 27.

More than half the people stricken are between the ages of 45 and 59.

"Protect yourself, especially at dusk and dawn," said Mansfield.

The virus is most dangerous in people over age 50 and individuals with compromised immune systems. There is no cure.

None of the reported West Nile cases have been in Proviso Township, said Kitty Loewy, spokeswoman for the Cook County Department of Public Health.

"Your guess on that one is as good as mine," Loewy said. "I don't quite understand how the infection picks certain areas and not others."

But that's not to say people here aren't at risk, she added.

"We don't want to water down the message," Loewy said. "We don't want people to get complacent and think it's in those other areas. People travel. People drive places.

"As long as we have warm days left here and a few weeks of summer, the possibility of contracting West Nile is still high, so people have to be careful."

This summer's drought has actually fueled the risk of West Nile.

While the dry weather has eliminated large numbers of the pesky floodwater mosquito, pools of brackish water are the breeding ground of choice for the stealthier house mosquito that carries the virus.

"They prefer to go after putrid water," said entomologist Phil Nixon from the University of Illinois-Extension. "The lousiest, stinkiest, brownest water you can think of is what this mosquito loves to lay its eggs on."

Late August and September are prime times for the Culex pipiens house mosquito, and so far 66 percent of the Culex samples tested in Cook County have been positive for West Nile, said state entomologist Linn Haramif. He and other officials are pleading for the public to use mosquito repellent, especially during morning and evening hours when the bugs are out.

"What we don't want people to do is count mosquitos; we want people to listen to public health officials and use repellent," Haramif said.

While products with DEET have the longest protection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control also recommends alternatives picardin and lemon of eucalyptus.

Norm Mansfield is a big believer in repellent now, but he never dreamed his first mosquito bite of the season would send him to the hospital and leave him with lingering health problems.

"I was sitting on the patio," he said. "I was bit in the neck."

For the next few days, Mansfield was fatigued and began to ache. Four days later, he went to the hospital with double vision. A spinal tap and brain scan confirmed that his brain had swelled with encephalitis, and then he fell into a coma.

"It wasn't my time, but had I died, I wouldn't have known about it," said Mansfield, who didn't revive for four days.

It took him six months to regain his energy, and his short-term memory is still only functioning at about 70 percent, though it's been slowly improving. In addition, the nerves in his left rotator cuff were permanently damaged.

"I can't lift a dinner plate past my waist," Mansfield said.

West Nile symptoms only show up in about two of 10 people infected, and the illness is usually mild, with fever, headache and body aches that go away. But 1 in 150 of those infected will get the severe symptoms, which may include high fever, stiffness, disorientation, coma, convulsions, paralysis, encephalitis and meningitis.

Though state officials have run an aggressive education campaign since the virus appeared in Illinois three years ago, only 40 percent more people are wearing repellent, Haramif said. Many communities have mosquito-abatement programs and agencies have fanned out across the state to help eliminate preventable pools of standing water. But that may not be enough, especially if you're over 50 years of age.

"No mosquito-control program is 100-percent effective," Haramif said.

If you've been bitten and notice a headache that doesn't go away, a stiff neck, confusion or problems walking, Dr. Conover recommends visiting a physician.

"It can be quite a devastating disease," he said. "It can leave you in a wheelchair.

"It can kill you. That's certainly reason to take it seriously."

Stephanie Fosnight can be reached at sfosnight@pioneerlocal.com.

Bill Ballou, CA---Molly Duke, CA

Sacramento and San Joaquin counties.

Bill Ballou got sick in late July, suffering from nausea and a fever that got worse, despite three visits to three different doctors. He said that not one of the doctors mentioned West Nile virus.

Finally, Ballou demanded to be tested for the virus. His test came back positive, and now he is recovering.

"I think it would have helped all of us to know earlier because they did two different batteries of tests, all of which were unnecessary," Ballou said.

Molly Duke, of Fair Oaks, said she had to push her doctor to even consider West Nile virus. And when she was finally tested she too came back positive for West Nile virus.

"It frustrated me when I went in to get the blood test. I felt they didn't take me seriously," Duke said.

An expert with Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Dave Herbert, told KCRA 3 that West Nile virus is difficult to diagnose, adding that a patient can have the virus without testing positive. He said that the blood test only works after the virus has incubated, producing anti-bodies in the patient.

Kaiser officials said that they understand the frustration of patients, who want to immediately know what is wrong with them. They added that seven out of every 10 people who are being tested for the virus are coming up negative.