Wayne Hinrichs, NE

Early West Nile Cases Cause Worry

Friday 6.22.07, 10:50 p.m.

The North Platte man infected with the West Nile virus says he's feeling much better now. Once you get West Nile, you'll always have the antibody in your system, but only in the most severe cases do symptoms reappear.

One man from Hildreth got the disease two years ago, and while he feels fine now, he remembers all too well how painful it was to have the virus.

Wayne, "I had such a terrible stomach ache. I thought surely farming finally got to me and I got an ulcer out of this deal, but then I started getting terrible headaches."

The symptoms only got worse, until they were more than enough to send Wayne Hinrichs seeking help.

"Then I went to the doctor in town." Wayne said. "Hildreth has a clinic, and they took a blood sample because I started feeling a tingling sensation in my legs and that scared me."

Wayne had a mild to severe case of the West Nile virus almost worse than the case recently found in North Platte. Officials there are taking preventative measures, by putting tablets in areas of still water.

West Nile Surveillance Coordinator Nora Camberos said, "If a mosquito comes in and tries to breed in that spot, it will not let the full cycle be completed so they can't actually emerge and hatch."

Although cases of West Nile are emerging earlier this year, it could go either way when it comes to how many people are infected.

"If we continue to have a cooler summer, it may not be as bad a problem in most areas, but if it ends up being hot
and dry, it will be the perfect environment for mosquitoes to breed," said Camberos.

After experiencing the symptoms so close to home, the Hinrichs are certain the warnings aren't something to brush off.

"I consider myself lucky," said Wayne. "I got a friend in Minden who was paralyzed for a while. He couldn't even walk."

His wife Peggy Hinrichs added, "I just always wear bug spray now. If a mosquito bites me, I go in and get the bug spray, or else I go in and stay in, so it's changed a lot of what we do."

Reporter's Notes by Crystal Calloway:

It seems early to have two cases in Nebraska already, but as of June 12 South Dakota and Iowa each had one case. Mississippi had four.

Story Created: Jun 22, 2007 at 10:47 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jun 23, 2007 at 3:40 PM CDT

Jerry Barton, Survivor WI

West Nile virus survivor thankfulJerry Barton recalls struggle with disease five years later
By MELISSA RIGNEY BAXTER - GM Today Staff
June 24, 2007


Jerry Barton stands next to a Marines bumper sticker on the back of his truck and holds a can of bug spray while at his home in the town of Waukesha. After participating in a Marines bug repellent program while he was in the service, Barton was infected with the West Nile virus a few years ago.
WAUKESHA - Sixty years ago, Jerry Barton helped the U.S. Marines on a special mission to test mosquito repellent while on duty at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C.
"Every night I racked up the most bites in our group," Barton, now 78, said of the three-night experience as a young Marine.
Nearly five years ago, Barton says the mosquitoes got their revenge.
Another mosquito bite gave Barton, who lives in the town of Waukesha, major trouble. He contracted the West Nile virus, one of just a few cases in Waukesha County in 2002.
"It was a nightmare," said Barton’s daughter, Lori Barton. "We’re just lucky he pulled through."
Barton knew the mosquitoes were bad that summer, and he was careful about wearing repellent - most of the time. However, he didn’t always use it for his quick trips to the newspaper box. He figures that’s when he got bitten.
The morning of Oct. 1, 2002, he collapsed on the floor of his Genesee Road home and couldn’t get up. He was there three hours before his son found him and called for help.
"I could see the hard-wired telephone, but I couldn’t get to it," he said.
For full story, go to the electronic version of The Freeman. Click here to access the electronic version.

Elizabeth Zopff, CO

Technology Can Help Those Paralyzed By West Nile Virus
Device Called Ness L300

By Jane Slater, 7NEWS Reporter
POSTED: 4:27 pm MST March 1, 2007
UPDATED: 7:02 pm MST March 1, 2007

FT.COLLINS, Colo. -- Elizabeth Zopff, 34, said she's had it with her brace and the cane that helps her walk upright.
"It digs into your skin. It's painful. It's hot,"said Zopff.
Zopff hasn't always had numbness in her leg. She contracted West Nile virus two years ago on her family farm. It left her right leg numb and devoid of motion.
"When the fever broke, just nothing, nothing was the same," said Zopff.

It's a reality Zopff has struggled with and fought to overcome. But a recent technological advancement has helped her move along.
"I walked with my cane the other day for the first time in years, two years," she said.
The wireless device, dubbed the Ness L300, is giving her back the mobility that the disease took away.
"The electrical stimulation allows the muscles to do the work that they were designed to do. The sensor under the foot communicates wirelessly with the brace," said physical therapist Amanda Barnhart.

The device forces her leg to do the work, instead of relying on the leg brace.
"It literally is completely life-changing," said Zopff.
Zopff said she already has big plans for the device but realizes it will take baby steps to get there.
"I'd like to chase my kid around the playground a little bit. That would be amazing. I'd like to walk in the grocery store and not be totally exhausted. It's difficult you realize how much you take for granted,"said Zopff.

Ken Speake: In his own words- MN (2)

Ken Speake: In his own words
Watch the story about Daisy, featured in February 12th's 5 p.m. newscast.
Dear Folks, It's time. I'm retiring.The work continues to be the absolute finest career I can imagine. It's physical. It's generally outdoors. It's fascinating. I get to meet new people, go new places, and learn new things. I get to work with amazingly creative, talented and intelligent people! I can't think of any career that gives a person more chances for greater variety of knowledge! And absolutely nothing provides the ego gratification of being a TV news reporter. I just so enjoy the work! And I think I'm fine at gathering news in the field.getting out...working with the photographer to get the details and images and sounds of the story to which we're assigned. (All week we'll feature Ken's favorite stories in the 5 p.m. newscast. Click here to see those stories and read more about Ken's amazing career.)But, I just get so tired! I've struggled with fatigue since West Nile Virus knocked me off my feet for two months in the Fall of 2003. I'm just so tired. There are times I want to cry. It's the mental work at the word processor that is energy expensive for me now.In January of 2006, I began working four days a week. Wednesdays, I sleep. It helps. But the fatigue piles up...kinda snowballs, if you will.I'm confused and angered that I don't have the vigor I want to have. I remember being vigorous. It was fun. So, I'm going to retire. When I told my boss Tom Lindner, News Director and VP, he suggested that I'm not retiring, so much as changing careers. I am hoping to put my voice to work and do narration as my second career. I've volunteered to read to a couple of school classes. Volunteer opportunities abound! Over the years, folks have told me my stuff was different, interesting, refreshing, and they like hearing how and why people do what they do to get through life. As my work here ends, I'm beginning to accept the fact that they weren't blowing me a lot of smoke. My life at KARE 11 has been, well, a darn good one. And, while it scares me to think of not being "Ken Speake, KARE 11 News," my new life is filled with possibilities, thanks to the support of my family, my colleagues and oh so many friends. My thanks to all of you for sharing life's journey with me.Best Regards,Ken SpeakeKARE 11 NewsKen Speake, KARE 11 News.

Ken Speake-MN

KARE reporter Speake, suffering from West Nile, retiring
By The Associated Press
.MINNEAPOLIS — Longtime KARE-TV reporter Ken Speake has announced his retirement because of the long-term affects of West Nile virus.Speake, 61, contracted the virus in 2003 and a neurologist said it has left him with brain damage in his left temporal lobe, which controls language function. That has made condensing, synthesizing and creating a story nearly impossible.Speake is known for his delivery of long-form pieces in a deep, folksy, smooth voice. But he hasn’t done a long-form story for two years because the three- to six-minute pieces became too much to handle.After taking some short-term disability leave, Speake cut back to a four-day workweek and focused on shorter news stories. But the weariness and fatigue became too much.“I don’t like the idea of retiring at all,” Speake said. “I love the work, but I’m tired of being tired. I have to come home and take a nap as soon as work’s over. If I don’t, then I’m pretty much wasted for the night.Speake’s thoughtful storytelling backed up with sharp reporting earned numerous awards over the years.“Emotions — that’s what makes the story special,” Speake explained.“I like to show people something that they might not otherwise be able to see,” he said. “I live for what I call ’Thank You, God moments’ — things that don’t have to happen when I’m there, but they do.”“Work has caused me to appreciate life and people,” he said. “It’s given me an insight to the human condition. I’ve learned what’s inconsequential to you is life-changing to someone else.”Speake’s last day at KARE-TV will be Friday.After that, Speake plans to spend more time with his wife, Donna, who is a counselor at Maple Grove High School, and his three sons, ages 17, 29 and 33. Next month, he’s traveling to Australia, and in the summer, he’s planning to go to Ireland and spend some time in the Boundary Waters.

Donnie Manry, TX

A 24-year veteran of the Bryan police department went home from the hospital Friday, after a five and a half month battle with the West Nile Virus.
NBC 6 News first introduced you to Sergeant Donnie Manry in August. Sergeant Manry contracted the virus from a mosquito bite.

He was initially paralyzed from the waist down. With short, determined steps, Manry walked out the doors of Saint Joseph Hospital in Bryan Friday afternoon.
His wife Stephanie said, "I don't know if we know of any other way to be. I mean you just have to make the best of it and that's what we were determined to do so, and that's what's gotten us where we are."

Last August Manry's neck and shoulders became stiff and his temperature shot up to 103 degrees.

At first doctors thought he had the flu, but eleven days after his first symptoms appeared, Manry was diagnosed with West Nile Virus.
Doctors said his future was uncertain, but Manry never gave up.
During the last five and a half months, Manry has undergone extensive physical therapy to relearn things that used to be second nature.

Lead Therapist Julie Cerna said, "He had to relearn how to do all of his activities of daily living, which included how to get in and out of bed, to walk and even being able to bathe and dress again."

Slowly but surely, Manry has gone from being paralyzed from the waist down to now walking with assistance as far as 600 feet.
"Just as recently as last week, there was some new progress and I had my ankle, I was able to move my ankle just a little bit.

I was on the phone with everybody because the progress is still coming,” Manry said.
Manry's children said they're glad he's finally coming home.
Daughter Chelsea said, "I am looking forward to just cuddling up on the couch, watching movies or eating dinner all together. [I’m looking forward to him just] being there like normal.”

The Manry family said while this has been a horrible experience for them, they have learned one big lesson from it; they will never take each other for granted.

WATCH VIDEO-Click Here NBC 6

Kadi Renowden, WI

Kadi Renowden, age 63, Madison, WI -September 2006

Kadi still works full time in an active hospital job, but manifested WNV over Labor Day, 2006 with the usual symptoms (headache, severe fatigue, muscle and neck pain, nausea). Her temperature was low grade, only about 100, but a white blood count at the urgent care was extremely low. Kadi, a nurse, told the MD at urgent care she thought she had WNV, as mosquitoes swarmed around her back porch, undeterred by DEETand she'd had many bites 8 days earlier. She was told she didn't have WNV. She has little recollection of the following 3 days, except for developing a rash, again being told she didn't have WNV when a call was placed to urgent care. Symptoms persisted for nearly 2 weeks, including another acute bout with nausea.

She returned to her internist to check her blood count before returning to work, suggesting she'd had WNV. "You don't have WNV," she was told. Kadi is also a post polio survivor with post polio symptoms. WNV attacks the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord, in the same manner that WNV does, with many correlations. After multiple increased falls, including twice down stairs in 3 weeks, she knew her legs were significantly weaker . She requested another EMG of her legs (a diagnostic test for neuromuscular disorders). Believing she had had WNV, she asked the Dr. to order a test. She had also learned that a neighbor 2 blocks away had been hospitalized for the same time she'd been ill. She was found to be positive for WNV, the 21st confirmed case in WI in 2006. Her own Dr. still refutes that she knew when she had it.

Testing at the time she came down with it might not have tested positive. Therefore, anyone who believes they have the virus need to be tested around a week later, if negative initially.

Kadi's post polio symptoms have been aggravated by the WNV, not unexpectedly, with continued symptoms of sleepiness , fatigue and increased muscle pain. She feels her symptoms may have resolved better had she been tested and encouraged to recuperate more than the 3 days she lost from work; if doctors had listened and paid attention to the symptoms, instead of discounting them. This is possibly the first reported case of a post polio syndrome patient contracting WNV. Since the effect WNV non post polio symptoms is yet unknown, PPS patients need to be especially judicious to avoid exposure, given the specific mechanisms of both diseases, with a worsening of PPS symptoms.

Chris Cottrell WI

Appleton Post-Crescent: Your Fox Cities News Source - Oshkosh man recovers after bout with West Nile

Posted January 23, 2007Oshkosh man recovers after bout with West Nile
By Krista B. Ledbetter of The Northwestern
Wear bug spray.

That's all Chris Cottrell can offer as advice. Cottrell, of Oshkosh, spent the past four months on short-term disability, suffering headaches, fatigue, tremors and numbness. Cottrell contracted West Nile virus last summer, and while he couldn't do much to rid his body of the virus, he's now well aware of what can be done to prevent it.

He believes an infected mosquito bit him while in the woods near Tomahawk in August, he said, but it wasn't until a couple weeks later that debilitating symptoms landed him in the hospital for blood tests. And blood tests confirmed West Nile virus.

Chris Cottrell, photographed with his children Shauna, 11, and Al, 15, was out of work for four months after contracted West Nile in August. Cottrell said he still feels fatigue and numbness on his left side. Oshkosh Northwestern Photo by Shu-Ling Zhou

According for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Nile virus is a potentially serious illness, spread to a human by a bite from an infected mosquito. In worst-case scenarios, people develop severe symptoms, such as paralysis, vision loss, or even death, but 80 percent of people who are infected never show symptoms at all.

"Your luck has got to be pretty lousy to get this," Cottrell said.

Only one case of West Nile virus was confirmed in Oshkosh last year, said city health director Paul Spiegel.

"Offhand, I don't think we've had any prior human cases here," Spiegel said. "But statewide, a couple years ago, we had a number of widespread cases. The virus spread right across the continental United States."

Spiegel said West Nile virus is likely here to stay. The virus appears to be widespread, and will flare up year after year.

As for Cottrell, he believes he's immune to the virus now, which is a blessing. While out of work for four months and on short-term disability, Cottrell had to seek help from the state to assist him with feeding his two teenage children, and he nearly lost his home. His first day back at work was Jan. 8.

For Christmas, Cottrell's employer, Multi-Conveyor LLC in Winneconne, gathered $1,300 in employee donations, and matched that in order to provide Cottrell and his family a large sum of money to get through the holidays, as well as gifts and food.

"Christmas would've been really slim without it. It was a big-time struggle," he said. "I work with some fantastic guys."

Cottrell found the inability to treat the virus the most frustrating, he said. While he sat at home, battling intense headaches and losing weight – 30 pounds in all – doctors were unable to help, except to treat his symptoms. At one point, he said, he was taking pain relievers, including the occasional Vicodin, every two hours to relieve the aches.

"I can't believe (the government) can't come up with a way to fix this virus," he said.

Although most of Cottrell's symptoms have subsided, he still has the occasional tremor, and a slight numbness on the left side of his face and in his left leg.

"I'm nervous about whether I'm going to fully recover," he said.

Spiegel said a small percentage of the infected population develop severe symptoms, but the health department still stresses that there is potential for severity.

"People should be using good, protective measures when out during mosquito season," Spiegel said. "It's going to be difficult to completely avoid the possibility of contracting it, but the best thing you can do is try to protect yourself from being bitten as best you can."

Krista B. Ledbetter: (920) 426-6656 or kledbetter@thenorthwestern.com

Megan Suzanne Most, Nevada

Nevada Appeal - News: "Douglas West Nile victim still fighting

January 21, 2007--by Susie Vasquez

Progress has been slow, but the fight continues for Megan Suzanne Most, the Douglas County resident who acquired a case of West Nile virus that led to meningitis and ultimately, a crippling paralysis.

Stricken by the disease in July, this single mother of three girls is now talking and breathing on her own. She has movement in one arm and leg, and can move her neck.

In late November, she was on a ventilator most of the time and could not move her head. Most is 34.

'We just keep pushing her,' said Tina Alaniz, one of Most's friends. 'That's all we can do and hope it gets better.'

After the onset of the infection, Most was treated at Carson-Tahoe Hospital, then transferred to South Meadows in Reno for long-term rehabilitative care.

Now that she is off the ventilator she is ready for the next step, a move to Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, Calif., where she will enter a program for patients with spinal chord injuries. The program will equip her with a wheelchair and teach her how to use it,"

"They (Sharp officials) say she's a very good candidate for this program," she said. "Now, it's a matter of when she will go and what she will do afterward."

----- In addition to the physical challenges, Most is facing financial problems with respect to insurance and health care costs. People can send their donations to Greater Nevada Credit Union, account 862957. Checks should be written to Tina Alaniz, for Megan Most. ------

The latest challenge is finding assisted care for her after the Sharp program, which lasts just six weeks, is completed, Alaniz said.

"We're having a big problem with that. Sharp won't take her unless they know what the family is going to do with her after she completes the program, but there are no spots in assisted care in California or Nevada. It's sad," Alaniz said. "We're sitting in limbo."

Right now, Most is scared and upset, and doesn't want to leave northern Nevada because her three daughters are here, Alaniz said.

The girls live with their father in the Reno area.

"It's going to be a long time, but she wants to come home," she said.

Spring is just around the corner and with that, the threat of West Nile as Douglas County's mosquitoes start to swarm.

Alaniz urged people to take precautions, to minimize their chances of acquiring this severe form of the disease.

"People need to be aware of what West Nile can do to someone," she said. "It can hit you hard. Not enough people knew about it last year and everyone I talk to can't believe Megan got this way from West Nile."

A record 123 human cases of West Nile virus were confirmed in Nevada in 2006.

Idaho had more confirmed cases than any other state with a total of 984 and Colorado came in second, with 322. Texas had 327 cases and California, 272, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.