A Hartford resident has become the third person in Connecticut to be infected with West Nile virus this season, according to the Department of Public Health.
The person is between 50 and 59 years old and fell ill with encephalitis during the fourth week of August. This person is recovering, according to DPH.
The health agency previously announced that the people of Bridgeport and West Haven had tested positive for West Nile.
West Nile virus is the most mosquito-borne disease in the United States
Most people who become infected with West Nile virus have no symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who may experience it may have fever, headaches, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In rare cases, people can develop serious illnesses such as high fever, headache, stiff neck, disorientation, loss of vision, paralysis and coma. It can be fatal.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experimentation Station (CAES), which manages the state’s mosquito catch and testing program, warns of an increase in mosquitoes that have tested positive in the state in recent weeks.
“We are seeing an increase in late season in the number of mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, especially in the coastal counties of Fairfield and New Haven and the Hartford area,” said Dr. Philip Armstrong, CAES medical entomologist. “West Nile virus risk is expected to continue until mosquito activity ceases in October.”
So far this season, mosquitoes trapped in 34 cities have tested positive for West Nile virus. They are:
- Branford
- Bridgeport
- Darien
- Easton
- Fairfield
- Glastonbury
- Greenwich
- Hamden
- Litchfield
- Manchester
- Middlefield
- Milford
- Meriden
- New Britain
- New Canaan
- New Haven
- Newington
- Newtown
- North Branford
- North Haven
- Norwalk
- orange
- Ridgefield
- Somers
- South Windsor
- Southington
- Sprague
- Stamford
- Stratford
- Waterford
- West Haven
- Westport
- Wethersfield
- Wilton