Second West Nile case diagnosed in county

A second Clark County resident has West Nile virus, Southern Nevada Health District officials said Friday.

The woman, under the age of 50, was diagnosed with the more serious neuroinvasive form of the disease in recent weeks, said Jennifer Sizemore, a Health District spokeswoman.

So far this season, the virus has been diagnosed in four Nevadans: two from Clark County, one from Pershing County and one from Elko County.

The other Clark County resident, a man under age 50, was diagnosed in mid-July. He had the less serious form of West Nile, health officials said.

At this time last year, 55 Nevadans had been diagnosed with West Nile, said Martha Framsted, a spokeswoman for the state's Health Division.

"Nevada isn't having as bad a year as the last one,'' she said.

The story across the country is much different. As of Friday, 576 people have been diagnosed with West Nile, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nineteen have died.

The majority of those cases are in California: 120 cases and seven deaths.

The prime West Nile season includes the end of summer and early fall. The illness is spread to humans through infected mosquitoes. In most cases, people don't experience any symptoms or become ill. Those who do become ill have symptoms similar to those of a common cold or flu.

In more severe cases, such as West Nile encephalitis or meningitis, people can suffer throbbing headache, high fever, neck stiffness and disorientation. They also might go into a coma or suffer paralysis.