FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — North Texas officials report a suburban Fort Worth resident has become the 36th Texan to die of West Nile fever this year.
A Tarrant County Public Health statement Thursday says a Hurst resident in his 80s with underlying health conditions had died of the fever caused by the mosquito-borne virus.
That brings the death toll in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this year to at least 22. Texas is the nation's West Nile fever hotbed, with the Dallas-Fort Worth area as the state's West Nile hotbed.
Mosquitoes spread the virus from birds to people. Symptoms include moderate to high fever and severe pain in the head, muscles, joints and eyes. Other symptoms can be mental changes, fatigue, nausea and respiratory trouble. Severe symptoms include neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.
