As of 11/12/02 there has been a total of 504 human West Nile virus cases in Michigan. These cases are the reported totals for 23 Michigan county's. The number of human fatality's in Michigan total's 41.

West Nile Virus Encephalitis
Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain. West Nile Encephalitis is an infection of the brain caused by West Nile virus. People get west Nile encephalitis from the bite of a mosquito that is infected with West Nile virus. West Nile virus is NOT transmitted from person to person. Map of Bird West Nile Virus Cases in Michigan

Symptoms
Most people infected with West Nile virus have little or no symptoms at all, but some may become ill several days after being bite. Studies show that one in four persons have mild illness with fever, headache, body aches and sometimes swollen lymph glands. More severe infections may be headache, high fever, stiff neck, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle aches and paralysis, and in a few cases death may occur, but fatality's are said to be mostly elderly people with weak immune systems.

Treatment
There is no known specific treatment for West Nile Encephalitis. In severe cases hospitalization and therapy is indicated. Intravenous fluids, airway management, and sometimes respirator are used to prevent secondary infections such as pneumonia.

Prevention
There is no human vaccine available yet for West Nile encephalitis. There are however preventions you can take for yourself and family. Use approved insect repellents containing DEET; these have proved to be very successful in helping prevent insect bites for years. For those of us who prefer not to use DEET on themselves or children, there are some natural alternatives to DEET which have proved when used correctly to be very successful in preventing insect bites also. Some of these natural alternatives for insect repellent may be found in Tri-County's product section on this web site.

Other ways to help prevent mosquito exposure is to maintain window and door screening in and around your home. Drain any standing water from your yard, remove standing water from your pool cover, kids toys in the yard, remove and discard old tires, buckets, etc. that may hold water and create mosquito breeding sites.

Opinion
And remember that most of the research to date shows that this West Nile virus seems to thrive on weaker immune systems, and research indicates it is usually overcome in a very strong immune system So in this writers opinion keeping your immune system strong through healthy eating habits and possibly a basic daily multi-vitamin routine would help to keep ones body strong against this virus and also many other inflictions that plague mankind today. Stay healthy and God Bless.

To obtain further information regarding West Nile virus reported cases in humans or livestock, or to look up further information on prevention go to www.michigan.gov/mda and click on West Nile virus on the right of the screen. Most of the information in this article was obtained from www.michigan.gov/mda