Most Manitobans have been more focused on the H1N1 swine flu virus this spring and summer and whether it will be coming back in a new wave this fall, rather than on the risk of being infected with West Nile virus. And, according to Manitoba Health, there hasn't been anything this summer to worry about.
No mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been identified in 2009, but Manitoba Health does say that it is still possible some are present in the southern part of the province. Most of the mosquitoes that have been collected are considered nuisance mosquitoes, and not culex tarsalis ones, which are a less common type of mosquito that is known to be more likely to carry the virus.
According to Manitoba Health, most people who are bitted by an infected mosquito do not become ill, and if they do, the symptoms are usually mild. However, in some cases the virus can cause serious illness or even death.
Bob Weller, a former vice-principal at R. D. Parker Collegiate, is believed to have been one of the first people from Thompson to catch West Nile virus while in the southern part of the province after moving to Winnipeg. Weller moved to Winnipeg in 2005 after having lived in Thompson for 30 years. He caught the virus two summers ago in Winnipeg.
Weller says his symptoms at first led him to believe he had the flu. He tried to make an appointment with his doctor but was unable to, was told that a bad flu was going around the city at the time, and to get lots of rest. Weller followed this advice, but said his condition got worse.
"I had really bad headaches, no energy to do anything, and was just really tired. Finally I couldn't stand the headaches and being tired all the time. I'd get up in the morning and have a shower and it'd take me three hours. I lost about 30 pounds," he remembers. "I went to the doctor and by this time I was shaking and slurring my words my wife thought maybe I was having a heart attack."
Weller says he went back to a doctor who gave him an electrocardiograph (EKG) and a computerized axial tomography scan (CAT) scan which both came back clear, and put him in observation. Finally another doctor came who suspected Weller had contracted West Nile virus. The doctor performed a spinal tap, also known as a lumbar puncture, where fluid from the brain is collected for biochemical, microbiological and cytological analysis. The results came back, and Weller was told he did indeed have West Nile virus.
Weller says the doctor told him that there was really no treatment for it but advised him to go home, get plenty of rest, drink lots of water and to take Tylenol if he experienced any headaches.
After about two weeks, Weller says he started to feel better, though still shaky and unsteady on his feet. He also couldn't drive for six weeks after being diagnosed with the virus.
Weller says the only lasting affect contracting West Nile virus has had on him is that it has made his coordination worse, especially when it comes to his penmanship.
"I was lucky. I could have been dead; I could have been a paraplegic. There were all sorts of scenarios going through my mind," he explains.
Human cases of West Nile virus were first found in southern Manitoba in the summer of 2003. The number of serious cases of the virus since then range from about one to 72 a year, with the number of deaths associated with the illness ranging from zero to four.
Although the risk of West Nile virus varies from year to year, Manitoba Health says that no cases have ever been found in the Norman or Burntwood regions. Individuals can take steps to lower the chances of mosquitoes with West Nile virus coming into contact with them by reducing the time they spend out doors between dusk and dawn; wearing light-coloured, loose-fitting, long-sleeved tops and long pants; applying insect repellant; checking that doors and window screens fit tightly and have no holes; getting rid of stagnant water and cleaning and emptying eaves troughs, pool covers, bird baths and rain barrels; and cutting grass and trimming hedges and trees on their property regularly.
