The Massachusetts Department of Public Health says two residents of the state tested positive for the West Nile Virus. A woman in her 70s was exposed while visiting another part of the United States, while a man in his 40s was exposed to the virus in the Greater Boston area.
This is the first time the West Nile Virus has been detected in Massachusetts residents in 2023 according to Public Health Commissioner Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD. He warned residents: “Populations of mosquitoes that can carry and spread this virus are fairly large this year, and we have seen recent increases in the number of WNV-positive mosquito samples from multiple parts of the Commonwealth.”
West Nile Virus first appeared in the United States in 1999. The mosquito-born virus belongs to the flavivirus family – along with dengue fever, yellow fever, and Zika. Culex mosquitoes become carriers for the virus when they use their proboscis bite and draw blood from infected birds. The virus can then subsequently be passed on to humans when they are bit by its mosquito hosts.
Most people who are exposed to West Nile never experience any symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Around 20 percent of people exposed will develop febrile illness, marked by severe flu-like symptoms – and may experience fatigue for several months after the illness has gone away on its own. Severe, and sometimes fatal, conditions such as encephalitis and meningitis are rare – developing in an estimated 1 out of every 150 confirmed cases.
