Greater Boston raised to high risk after fourth case of West Nile virus confirmed

Greater Boston raised to high risk after fourth case of West Nile virus confirmed Visit The Boston Globe Scroll t...

Greater Boston raised to high risk after fourth case of West Nile virus confirmed

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Nearly a dozen Boston-area communities are now listed at high risk for West Nile virus after a fourth case of the mosquito-borne virus was discovered, the state Department of Public Health announced Monday.

The infected person is a woman in her 50s from Middlesex County who was never hospitalized for the illness, health officials said. The other three cases, which were reported on Friday, involve a Worcester County woman in her 70s, a woman in her 60s from Middlesex County, and a woman in her 50s from Suffolk County.

At least two of the four patients were exposed to the virus in the Greater Boston area, health officials said. As a result, state workers have raised the risk level from moderate to high for 11 communities â€" Arlington, Boston, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Newton, Somerville, and Watertown.

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“Several individuals from the same area have developed West Nile virus,” said Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel. “That means that there is an increased risk in this specific area and that additional people could become infected. We are particularly concerned about people over 50 and those who are immunocompromised.”

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Symptoms of West Nile virus include a fever and other flu-like illness, although most people who contract the virus develop no symptoms. In rare cases, more severe illness can occur.

Last year, there were six human cases of West Nile virus in Massachusetts.

On Aug. 21, officials raised the statewide risk level for West Nile virus from low to moderate. The statewide risk was raised only one other time, in 2012, when 33 human cases of West Nile were recorded in Massachusetts.

Abigail Feldman can be reached at abigail.feldman@globe.com.Source: Google News US Health | Netizen 24 United States