West Nile hits hard

Four more Butte County residents have been infected with the West Nile virus—three with neuroinvasive disease, the most debilitating form of the illness and one that can leave a person weak, numb and partially paralyzed for weeks. That brings the countywide total to 10.

None of the new patients was an elderly person, which led Dr. Mark Lundberg, health officer for the county, to remind residents that “you do not have to be elderly to develop neuroinvasive disease.”

He also wanted people to know that the virus can be contracted anywhere in the county, “as evidenced by dead bird reports, mosquito pools, sentinel chickens, and human cases.” Protect yourself, he said. For info on how to do that, go to www.buttecounty.net/publichealth.