MADISON - A 93-year-old man has died from the West Nile virus, thefirst Wisconsin death from the mosquito-borne illness.
The Town of Madison man was very sick when he sought treatmentAug. 29, said Gareth Johnson, administrator of the Dane County HumanServices Department's Division of Public Health.
Doctors ordered blood tests that confirmed the virus late Friday,Johnson said.
State law concerning communicable diseases prohibit countyofficials from releasing the man's name.
Wisconsin had nine confirmed human cases of West Nile, notincluding the Town of Madison man. They live in Adams, Brown, Clark,Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Winnebago counties.
'The fact that someone with West Nile virus has died, whiletragic, doesn't change the level of risk for the community at-large,and that level is very small,' said Dane County Executive KathleenFalk, who announced the death, along with Johnson.
On Friday, Racine health officials said two people likely becameinfected with West Nile after they were bitten by mosquitoes.
One of the victims, a Racine woman, has pretty much recovered,said Diane Muri, the city's public-health administrator. The othercase was in rural Racine.
Judy Price, director of the towns of Caledonia-Mount PleasantHealth Department, said a 46-year-old man was hospitalized but hasreturned to his home in Rock Island, Ill.
The man occasionally works in the Milwaukee area and stays inMount Pleasant, Price said. The man believes he became infected nearhis Illinois home so the case was transferred there, she said.
There have been 954 confirmed cases of West Nile this year in theUnited States, including 43 deaths, according to the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
West Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, generallyproduces mild, flu-like symptoms, but it can lead to a dangerous formof brain disease, especially in the elderly and very young.
Medical experts say that only 1 percent of those who get the virusbecome seriously ill, experiencing high fever, severe headaches andconfusion.
The virus cannot be transmitted from person to person. There is novaccine available to protect humans against the infection.
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