Ohio man’s death attributed to West Nile virus

Staff/wire report

COLUMBUS

A 76-year-old Hamilton County man’s death Wednesday was the first in 2012 attributed to West Nile virus by the Ohio Department of Health.

The man was hospitalized with encephalitis.

The ODH reported growing numbers of WNV human infection and mosquitoes testing positive for the virus throughout the state.

Ohioans should remain vigilant and take all reasonable precautions to protect themselves against mosquito bites, said Dr. Ted Wymyslo, director of the state health department.

The disease is spread by the Culex mosquito.

Also, as of Wednesday, no WNV cases in humans had been reported in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

So far in 2012, Ohio has recorded 49 human cases of WNV and 960 positive mosquito samples. At this time last year, ODH had recorded just two human cases and 450 positive mosquito samples.

The percentage of mosquitoes testing positive for WNV so far in 2012 has been higher than in any year since 2002, when Ohio had 441 human WNV cases and 31 fatalities.