The Louisiana Department of Health has confirmed the first human case of West Nile virus this year in Orleans Parish. The patient has the neuroinvasive form of the disease, the most serious type, health officials said.

Statewide, 10 other residents have been diagnosed with the neuroinvasive form of West Nile this year, according to an Aug. 2 report from LDH. Those cases were reported in Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Tammany and Washington parishes.

Mosquito activity has also been high for the virus. LDH reports 642 mosquito pools have tested positive for West Nila across Louisiana this year, including 199 in Orleans Parish.

West Nile virus spreads between wild birds and mosquitoes, and can infect humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. In the New Orleans area, the ma

See Full Page