El Paso County Reports First West Nile Case

Listen Now
0min 49sec

El Paso County health officials are confirming the first human case of West Nile Virus in the county this year.

A man has been diagnosed with the virus in what Dr. Bill Letson, the El Paso County Public Health Medical Diretor, calls a pretty average year for incident rates.  

There may be one or two more cases, according to Letson, but mosquito activity is winding down.

"In general," Letson said, "We would expect both here and in the rest of the state that as we move into October that the mosquito activity, in terms of biting on humans and transmitting the virus, is going to be on kind of a down slope."

As of late last week, the state health department showed 197 total cases of West Nile Virus, with nearly 80 of those in Larimer County alone. Pueblo City-County health officials announced their first human case last week.