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Published September 05, 2009, 07:58 AM

First state West Nile virus case reported

A state Health Department official says this year’s first confirmed human case of the West Nile virus in North Dakota may be later than usual because of cool weather.

BISMARCK (AP) — A state Health Department official says this year’s first confirmed human case of the West Nile virus in North Dakota may be later than usual because of cool weather.

Michelle Feist is the department’s West Nile virus surveillance coordinator. She said the case reported Friday is a Burleigh County man in his 50s. He was not hospitalized.

Last year, the state reported 37 human West Nile virus cases, with a peak in mid-August.

Feist said the mosquito-borne virus is more likely to spread in warmer weather but the state has cases as late as October, until the first hard frost, and people still should protect themselves from mosquito bites.

She said the number of cases has varied dramatically, from 17 in 2002 to 617 in 2003.

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