Los Angeles County Reports 100 West Nile Cases

Los Angeles County has reported 100 West Nile virus cases so far this year, the highest total the county has recorded since 2017, when 268 cases were logged over the entire mosquito season, health officials said Monday. Of the 100 cases, 94 people have been hospitalized and five have died, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Ninety-six of the patients were symptomatic, with the most recent illness onset on Sept. 4. One-third of infected patients live in the East Los Angeles area, about a quarter in the San Fernando Valley and about a fifth in the South Bay region, the health department said. County health officials also reported 90 neuroinvasive diagnoses among the cases, including 70 cases of encephalitis, 12 of meningitis and eight of acute flaccid paralysis. Last year the county recorded just 22 cases, 17 of them neuroinvasive, and two deaths. The California Department of Public Health is reporting the highest levels of West Nile virus activity in five years, local health officials said. Los Angeles County Health Officer Dr.