Niagara’s first human West Nile virus case confirmed

Niagara’s public health department confirmed Monday the region has its first human case of West Nile virus this year.

The laboratory confirmation of a human infection comes after Brock University entomologists published a paper predicting Ontario is facing a West Nile virus outbreak this year.

The health department did not say who was infected or where in Niagara the person lives.

The Niagara case brings the number of people in Ontario infected this year to 15.

Most people infected by the virus, which is transmitted by mosquitos, show no symptoms. However, about 20 per cent of infected people will develop flu-like symptoms. One per cent of those infected can develop serious symptoms including brain infections such as meningitis, the public health department said in a news release.

Virus-carrying mosquitos tend to be active between dusk and dawn. The public is advised to wear long sleeves and lighter coloured clothing and use insect repellant that contains DEET while outside during those hours.

Last week, Brock scientist Fiona Hunter and her graduate student Bryan Giordano published a paper that concluded a West Nile virus outbreak is imminent.

Based on historic West Nile virus data, Giordano developed an equation that predicts the number of human cases based on the number of infected pools of mosquitos in Ontario.

The paper suggests about 340 Ontarians could become infected this fall, a number equivalent to the 2012 West Nile outbreak in Ontario that killed two people. The 2012 outbreak was the most significant since the 2002 West Nile virus epidemic that saw 394 people infected.

The health department said Niagara residents with questions about mosquito bite prevention can call 1-888-505-6074 ext. 7767. Further information can be found at niagararegion.ca/health.