The 44-year-old Pontiac man was hospitalized earlier this month after showing symptoms and is now at home recovering.
The man started showing symptoms earlier this month.
"Think a lot of the moisture we've had recently and a lot of the standing water we've had made it conducive for the mosquitoes to lay their eggs, so we're seeing a lot and they multiply fast," said St. John's Emergency Room Dr. Victor Abuel.
The doctor says the hot and warm weather we experienced this spring and summer means more infected mosquitoes, which puts us at higher risk. All it takes is one mosquito bite. It's a serious health threat.
"You can have headaches, fever, confusion, numbness, tingling, even paralysis are the severe symptoms," he said.
A mosquito pool sample collected in mid-June by the Saginaw County Mosquito Abatement Commission tested positive for WNV at Michigan State University (MSU). In addition, a wild turkey in Washtenaw County was submitted to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in June and also tested positive for WNV at MSU.
Due to an unusually warm and dry spring and summer, mosquitoes that can transmit West Nile hatched early and are on the rise in Michigan, according to the state's mosquito control districts. West Nile can cause serious neurological illnesses, such as meningitis and encephalitis.
Protest yourself from West Nile Virus
• Maintain window and door screening to help keep mosquitoes out of buildings.
• Empty water from mosquito breeding sites such as buckets, unused kiddie pools, old tires or similar sites where mosquitoes lay eggs.
• Avoid being outdoors at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear light colored, long-sleeved shirts and long pants when outdoors.
• Apply insect repellents that contain the active ingredient DEET, or other EPA approved repellent to exposed skin or clothing, always following the manufacturer's directions for use.
The months of August and September are when most human cases of West Nile Virus occur in Michigan. The end of summer is when mosquitoes are older and more likely to carry the virus. The types of mosquitoes that transmit the virus bite during evening and nighttime hours.
Most people bitten by a WNV infected mosquito show no symptoms of illness. However, some become sick three to 15 days after exposure.
West Nile Virus stats
About one-in-five infected persons will have mild illness with fever. About one in 150 infected people will become severely ill. Symptoms of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and meningitis (inflammation of the spinal cord and brain linings) include stiff neck, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, muscle weakness, convulsions and paralysis.
People 50 and older are more susceptible to severe WNV disease symptoms. Physicians are urged to test patients for WNV if they present with fever and signs of meningitis or encephalitis, or sudden painless paralysis in the absence of stroke in the summer months.
Last year, WNV was responsible for 34 serious illnesses and two fatalities in Michigan. Nationally, 712 WNV cases and 34 deaths were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Southeast Michigan is a recurrent focus of WNV activity annually.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.