Human West Nile case pops up in Utah County

The first Utah case of human West Nile virus this season has been detected in Utah County, health officials said Tuesday. And as with detection of the virus in other animals and mosquito populations, it has appeared earlier than last year.

The case was detected during screening of a blood donation, according to Utah County Health Department spokesman Lance Madigan. Since 2003, blood has been screened for the virus to keep it from infecting others. If it's found in blood, a donor is deferred until the virus, which is fairly short-lived, is no longer active.

Because of federal health privacy rules, health officials will say only that the infected individual was between the age of 18 and 39 years and did become ill but did not need to be hospitalized. That person has since recovered, said state health department spokesman Cody Craynor.

Neighbors Idaho and Colorado have each reported a human case, as well.

Last year, the virus debuted in Utah in a mosquito pool July 23. As of Wednesday, it's already been found in 16 mosquito pools, two avian oral swabs, five sentinel chickens and a horse across five of Utah's counties: Duchesne, Emery, Salt Lake, Utah and Washington. The first human infection last year was detected in August.

Still, said Madigan, health officials are not surprised it's early. "With this warm weather and mosquito populations early on," they expected a case soon. "We have the right weather patterns and once it's here, it's here."

Utah County and Salt Lake County mosquito abatement crews have detected the virus in multiple pools and have been working to reduce the mosquito populations. "Utah County did aerial spraying last weekend and the numbers from the trapping shows it was effective and has knocked down the adult mosquito population," Madigan said. But he warns that people still need to take precautions to avoid exposure to the virus, which can range in severity from mild, even unnoticed, to very serious and sometimes lethal. The elderly are especially vulnerable to the serious symptoms, but any age can be affected.

Precautions include using mosquito repellent that contains DEET and wearing long sleeves and pants if you need to be outdoors between dusk and dawn, when the two mosquito varieties that carry the virus are active. It's also important to get rid of standing water nearby.

"One important message is you can get West Nile virus as easily doing something in your own backyard," said Craynor. "You don't have to be at the lake."