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1st Hoosier of year with West Nile virus is from Allen County

(Steffen Kugler/Getty Images)

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Allen County resident is the year’s first case of a Hoosier with the West Nile virus, the Indiana Department of Health said Friday afternoon.

Infected mosquitoes spread the virus. Five or more reports of mosquitoes found with the virus have been made in Marion County and six other Indiana counties: Hamilton, Elkhart, Floyd, Gibson and St. Joseph. Other counties reporting four or fewer mosquitoes with the virus are Allen, Clark, Daviess, Jennings, Lake, Martin, Pike, Scott, Steuben, Vanderburgh and Vigo.

The state health department provided no information about the Allen County resident with the virus. It can cause fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands or a rash. Some people develop a more severe form of the disease with inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, and muscle paralysis. People die in about 10% of severe cases. People older than 60 years are at a higher risk.

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