(File Photo of a Mosquito)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) The Allegheny County Health Department has recently confirmed its first human case of West Nile virus in 2025. The person that tested positive for the West Nile Virus lives in Plum Borough and is presently recovering at home and started experiencing symptoms in the middle of July of 2025, including anorexia, fever, diarrhea and malaise. Starting on Thursday, the Allegheny County Health Department will initiate more investigation and surveillance in the area of Allegheny County. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70% to 80% of people infected with West Nile virus do not develop symptoms. Around 20% of infected people with West Nile virus will get a fever developed along with other systems such as body aches, diarrhea, headache, joint pains, rash or vomiting. Even though most people with West Nile virus symptoms can make a recovery from the virus on their own, lower than one percent of those people will develop symptoms of neurologic illness that are severe caused by inflammation of the spinal cord or the brain. To protect themselves from mosquitoes, the Allegheny County Health Department is giving advice to residents by getting rid of standing water around the property, ensuring that there are screens on their doors and windows, and putting insect repellent on their skin that is exposed. It is recommended that insect repellent should be used when mosquitoes are most active, which is during dawn and dusk.