Countywide : State Test Confirms Encephalitis Case

Test results have confirmed that an Oxnard woman contracted a potentially deadly virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes, Ventura County health officials said Tuesday.

County public health officer Dr. Larry Dodds said he received results from a state laboratory in Berkeley confirming that the woman had been infected with St. Louis encephalitis virus.

The 73-year-old woman, who was not identified, was hospitalized in September, but her illness was not reported to health officials until mid-October. She later recovered and moved to Santa Maria.

Officials did not identify the hospital where she was treated.

Environmental health officials have not determined how the woman contracted the virus, said Randy Smith, an environmental health specialist who heads the county’s mosquito eradication program.

The virus is normally transmitted to humans through a mosquito bite and can cause flu-like symptoms, including nausea and inflammation of the brain. In more serious cases, the virus can cause brain damage and death.

At the time she was infected, the woman was living in downtown Oxnard. She did not recall being bitten by a mosquito, Smith said.

Officials said the onset of colder weather means there are fewer mosquitoes around to transmit the disease.

Environmental health workers have embarked on a program to catch wild birds in Oxnard and to test their blood for signs of the virus, he said. The county also will continue to monitor three flocks of domestic chickens in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Fillmore for signs of infection until the end of the month.