DHHS Reports Nebraska's First Human West Nile Case of Year

July 23, 2021, 12:25 p.m. ·

Mosquito sits on human hand.
Sample populations of mosquitoes have tested positive for the West Nile Virus in Adams County, Nebraska. (Photo courtesy CDC)

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has identified the first human case of the West Nile virus this year, the state department announced in a press release on Friday.

The person who tested positive was not hospitalized and lives in the Elkhorn-Logan Valley Health Department area in northeast Nebraska.

Last year, there was 15 human cases in the state, resulting in one death and 10 hospitalizations. Previously in Nebraska, there had been 28 cases in 2019 and 251 in 2018.

DHHS recommends using mosquito repellant, draining standing water, avoiding being outdoors at dusk and dawn and wearing long sleeves to avoid being bite by a mosquito. Most people who are infected have no symptoms or only mild flu-like symptoms. Other symptoms can include headache, body ache, vomiting, fatigue and weakness.

The state department first flagged mosquitoes in the Panhandle for the virus last week.