1st Nile death in Utah

VERNAL — A Uintah County man who died Sept. 3 is the state's first death linked to West Nile virus infection, the TriCounty Health Department has confirmed.

Shirley Dale Cook, 72, described by family and friends as a burly former construction worker with the heart and lungs of an 18-year-old, began showing symptoms of infection Aug. 5, his and wife Bette's 55th wedding anniversary.

A day later, fever, nausea, dehydration, shaking and loss of muscle control got bad enough that an ambulance had to be called, said Cook's daughter, Kathy Searle.

Four days later, Searle said, Cook was taken by helicopter to St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake. He soon developed severe neurological symptoms — encephalitis and memory loss. He was placed on total life support for a week.

The two rural eastern counties of Duchesne and Uintah now have almost half of Utah's 23 confirmed human West Nile virus cases — four from Duchesne County, seven from Uintah County, said TriCounty Health Department director Joseph Shaffer.

"For most people, the risk of serious illness from West Nile virus is low, but this man's death reminds us that we all need to take precautions to protect ourselves and our families," Shaffer said.

The Utah Department of Health is following up a number of other cases, said spokesman Steve McDonald, noting that the recent increase in human cases is no surprise given the two- to 14-day incubation period, with symptoms appearing about a week later.

Most people infected with the virus do not have serious symptoms or become sick, McDonald said. Out of the 23 cases the health department has confirmed so far, 13 have been the West Nile fever and 10 have been neuro-invasive.

West Nile fever symptoms, which affect 1 in 5 people infected, are similar to the flu and can last up to two weeks. But the more serious neuro-invasive symptoms, displayed by 1 in 150 people, affect the brain and spinal cord.

"The majority of people that aren't sick enough to go to a doctor, we don't find out about. So our 23 cases we are reporting right now are only the worst cases, and many more are going undetected because they aren't sick enough to be tested or see a health care provider," McDonald said.

Although the risk of severe illness increases with age, no age group is exempt from the illness.