Bird in Simi Valley tests positive for West Nile Virus

A bird in Simi Valley tested positive for the West Nile virus during the second week of October, bringing the total number of birds found with the virus to 34 in Ventura County this year, officials said.

In addition to birds, humans and horses can be infected with the mosquito-carried virus.

About one in 150 people infected with it will develop severe illness, according to the Ventura County Environmental Health Division. Severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. These symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent.

Up to 20 percent of infected people suffer symptoms such as fever, headache and body aches, nausea, vomiting and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. In these cases, symptoms can last for as short as a few days, although even healthy people have become sick for several weeks.

About 80 percent of people who are infected will not show any symptoms.

The Ventura County Environmental Health Division advises the public to minimize exposure to the virus by avoiding mosquitoes. Officials urge that residents eliminate standing water where mosquitoes can breed and make sure doors and windows have tight screens that haven't been torn. When outdoors, wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts, limit activity especially at dawn and dusk, and apply insect repellent. The county also provides mosquito-eating fish to use in non-maintained swimming pools, ornamental ponds and similar water features. To request mosquito-eating fish, call 662-6582.

To report potential mosquito-breeding sources in Ventura County, call 658-4310. To report wild birds that have died recently, call 877-968-2473.