(Franklin County, Ind.) – West Nile Virus, responsible for three deaths in Indiana this year, has been found in mosquitoes in Franklin County.

The Indiana State Department of Health says 15 batches of mosquitoes in Franklin County have tested positive for West Nile. There have been no human cases of the illness in southeast Indiana.

West Nile virus is transmitted to a human by a mosquito that has first bitten an infected bird. 

Franklin County has also recently been found to be one of just two Indiana counties with a human case of the La Crosse Encephalitis Virus, also a mosquito-borne disease. The other is Ripley County.

According to the State Department of Health, there have also been mosquitoes carrying West Nile found in Ohio and Ripley counties. The disease has not yet been found in Dearborn or Switzerland counties.

Nearby Hamilton County, Ohio has reported two human cases of West Nile this summer. The Hamilton County Health Department said last week that a 76-year-old man died from the disease.

A person who is bitten by an infected mosquito may show symptoms from 3 to 15 days after the bite. Most cases include no or only mild symptoms. About one in 150 cases becomes serious enough to cause paralysis or death.

More information on West Nile virus in Indiana can be found on the Indiana State Department of Health website, http://www.in.gov/isdh/23592.htm.

LINKS:

Hamilton Co. Man Is Ohio's First West Nile Death

Marion Co. Man Is Second West Nile Victim

10 Hoosiers Found To Have West Nile Virus

Health Dept. Confirms Two With West Nile

New Mosquito Illness Confirmed In Ripley Co.

West Nile Found In Ohio Co.; Ind. Has First Death

Health Dept.: West Nile Virus Found In Ripley Co.