Toronto reports two probable human cases of West Nile Virus

Toronto Public Health officials have reported the two probable Toronto human cases of West Nile Virus this year.

An 80-year-old man with suspected West Nile Virus is in the hospital and a 32-year-old woman is recovering at home.

Officials say a second test is necessary to confirm the cases are West Nile. Those results are expected, at the earliest, by the end of next week.

Dr. Howard Shapiro, the Associate Medical Officer of Health, told 680News the public needs to be aware of the precautions they can take to avoid being infected.

“I think it’s something that people need to be aware of. I guess it’s faded as a bit of an issue because we’ve been very fortunate and had a number of years where we had very few cases, but we do have a number of early indicators I think people need to be aware of as a possibility so they can reduce their risk.” said Dr. Shapiro.

The public is being reminded to take precautions such as being aware of their surroundings and the possibility of being bit by a mosquito, and to use insect repellant approved by Health Canada according to the label directions.

Officials say if you find yourself in an area where there are mosquitoes, wearing clothing with long sleeves and light in colour.

Dr. Shapiro added that four out of five people infected with West Nile Virus will not experience any symptoms.

“About one in five will experience an illness with a fever, headache, tiredness, a rash and it may take a few days or a week or two to recover. It can be quite severe although they won’t necessarily need any physician or hospital care to improve,” he explained.

Those with weak immune systems can experience more severe symptoms.

Last year, Toronto had four confirmed and seven probable human cases of West Nile.