West Nile Virus

Published 12:00 am Friday, October 5, 2012

Panola records first 2012 West Nile case


By Billy Davis

Panola County has registered its first 2012 case of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, the Miss. Department of Health reported October 1.

The state agency reported 200 cases and five deaths so far this year, the highest number of West Nile cases ever in the state.

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There were 140 confirmed cases statewide in September when The Panolian reported on the virus, which was first detected in Mississippi in 1999.

To date Panola County has had one fatality from the virus, when Armistead Flint of Batesville passed away in 2008. He was 88.

A spokesman for the Department of Health would not release the age or sex of the new victim, citing health privacy laws.

They symptoms of West Nile have been described as flu like, and health officials have said most people who are bitten and carry the disease never show symptoms.