Whitemarsh Woman Contracts West Nile Virus, First in Montco

Update- 5 p.m. Monday: The patient is a 64-year-old woman from Lafayette Hill, Whitemarsh Township, according to Montgomery County spokesperson Frank Custer. No information has been released regarding her condition.

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State health officials on Monday reported Montgomery County's first human case of West Nile virus.

The patient is a woman who became ill Aug. 19, said state DEP spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz. Citing privacy concerns, Kasianowitz declined to provide more information about the woman or where in Montgomery County she contracted the virus.

Also unclear was the woman's medical condition. One of the 18 people to get West Nile virus in Pennsylvania this year, a Luzerne County man, has died.

A Lancaster County human case also was reported Monday, as were 44 positive tests in mosquito samples around the state.

Montgomery County reported no human cases of West Nile virus in 2011. Four were reported in 2010.

Click here to read a previous article on the county's efforts to control mosquito populations and learn about a number of precauitiosn you can take. The Montgomery County Health Department's website also provides a variety of West Nile virus tips and facts.