The Maricopa County Department of Public Health announced this week a death of a resident with West Nile Virus and a total of 36 human cases reported this season. The individual who died was an older adult who also had other health conditions.
In 2020, Maricopa County had three West Nile virus human cases and one death.
While adults over 60 and those with chronic health conditions are most at risk for serious complications of West Nile virus, young healthy individuals can also get severe disease.
West Nile virus is typically spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. Although it can cause severe disease, only about 1 in 5 of those infected will develop any symptoms at all. Those who do develop symptoms usually experience a flu-like illness including fever, headache, body aches and muscle weakness.
Rarely, about 1 in 150 people infected can develop encephalitis or meningitis (inflammation of the brain or of the spinal cord). This more severe form of the disease can present with headache, neck stiffness, vision loss, paralysis and other neurologic symptoms. These severe cases can lead to very prolonged illness, permanent paralysis or death.
Those who are over 60 years old, have underlying medical conditions or have depressed immune systems are at higher risk for the more severe form of West Nile virus.