Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011 | 8:27 a.m.
Seven more Clark County residents have acquired the West Nile virus, but all are expected to recover, the Southern Nevada Health District announced Wednesday.
The new patients — all diagnosed with the more serious, neuroinvasive form of the illness — bring the season total to eight cases, officials said. An 84-year-old man was the county’s first person to be diagnosed with the illness this season in mid-August.
The new patients include three men and four women, officials said. Their ages are 39, 57, 73, 74, 79, 81 and 83.
The health district’s vector control program also identified the West Nile virus in mosquito clusters in the following ZIP codes: 89001 (Lincoln County), 89102, 89107 and 89117. The last three ZIP codes are in the western Las Vegas Valley.
Officials cautioned that mosquitoes carrying the virus likely are present throughout the valley. Earlier this summer, the health district found two mosquito clusters in the Logandale area that tested positive for the virus.
The West Nile virus is spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes, not from person to person contact. The mosquitoes acquire the virus by eating infected birds.
Many people have no symptoms or mild ones, which include fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back, officials said. In severe cases, the illness can cause death.
Officials advised residents to use insect repellent and eliminate sources of standing water, which support mosquito breeding. Residents should report green swimming pools and stagnant water sources to local code enforcement agencies.
No human cases of West Nile virus were reported in Clark County last year, officials said.
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