The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
There is one new human case of West Nile virus in Manitoba, confirmed through blood donation testing by Canadian Blood Services. The individual, a man in his 40s from the Rural Municipality of Rhineland, has shown no symptoms of West Nile virus infection. His donation was withdrawn from the blood supply system and none of the components of this donation were transfused. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to two and the total number of probable cases to five. Four of these seven cases have been reported to Health Canada as West Nile virus neurological syndrome, which includes encephalitis, meningitis or other nervous system disorders. This is the more severe but less common form of this disease. It can be life-threatening and may result in long-term complications, especially for those over the age of 50 or with chronic medical conditions. Two of these seven cases have been reported to Health Canada as West Nile virus fever, which is a mild illness and may include symptoms of fever, headache, sore muscles, fatigue and a rash. Full recovery is expected and it does not usually require medical care or hospitalization. The blood donor case has been reported to Health Canada as an asymptomatic case of West Nile virus. To date, 196 mosquito samples or pools in Manitoba have tested positive for West Nile virus, of which 171 are Culex tarsalis. New areas where positive mosquito pools have been identified are Brandon and Portage la Prairie. The remaining samples are from locations where positive pools have been identified earlier this year: Winnipeg, Winkler, Virden, Steinbach, St. Andrews, West St. Paul, Selkirk, Russell, Killarney, Deloraine, Stony Mountain and Beausejour. Mosquito adulticiding has been carried out in Virden, Deloraine and Stony Mountain to reduce high numbers of infected Culex tarsalis mosquitoes. Meanwhile, last week, Saskatchewan Health announced 97 probable and confirmed West Nile Virus cases. Thirty-three additional cases were identified as under investigation. This brings the total number of probable and confirmed infections to 112 in Saskatchewan. Almost half of the 17 new cases are in the Regina Qu'Appelle Regional Health Authority.
