12th Case of West Nile Is Reported

Health officials said Friday that an 84-year-old San Bernardino County woman has been infected with the West Nile virus.

The woman, whose name was not released, was hospitalized last month with septic meningitis from the West Nile infection, state officials said.

She is currently in convalescent care.

“There’ll be many cases this year. This is the beginning of what we’ve seen come across the nation,” said Joan Mulcare, manager of the San Bernardino Vector Control District.

The woman is the 12th person to have become infected with West Nile in California since the virus reappeared in February, officials said. The disease arrived in California last summer and infected three people last year.

State and local health officials have long predicted that the West Nile virus would become a problem in California. San Bernardino has been the hardest hit, with nine people infected in the county, including five members of a Fontana family. Two men in Los Angeles County and one man in Riverside County also were infected. All are recovering, officials said.

Mosquitoes feed on infected birds and spread the virus to people, officials said. They said most infected people don’t feel symptoms, but about 20% get headaches, fever, rash and experience weakness. About one in 150 can get encephalitis, a swelling of part of the brain, from the virus. Less than 1% die from the disease.