Atlantan gets West Nile virus

An Atlanta man last month became the first person in the state this year to contract West Nile virus, local and state health officials said Friday.

The 58-year-old man, whom officials did not identify, sought help in late August and was hospitalized for about a week, returning home earlier this week.

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Physicians caught the illness in time, said April Majors, senior public affairs officer for the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness. The department got a report of the case from state officials.

“He’s recovered,” said Majors. “He’s doing fine.”

The hospital, which Majors declined to name, sent a blood sample to the state Division of Public Health, which monitors the spread of the mosquito-borne virus. State tests confirmed he had contracted the disease, whose symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, muscle weakness and paralysis.

The latest reported case underscores the difference between the virus’ spread this year as compared to 2007. By this time last year, Fulton County had reported nine cases of West Nile. The state reported 52 cases last year, with one fatality.

The nation reported 3,630 cases last year, according to federal statistics. The total this year, as of Tuesday, was 413 cases.

People who have had the disease, such as Marietta retiree Mike Blalock, say the virus robs you of your strength — and, at times, your will to live.

Blalock, who contracted the virus last year, said he experienced flu-like symptoms that would not go away.

“It kept getting worse and worse,” he said in a July interview.

One day, said Blalock, he fell out of bed, getting wedged between the bed and dresser. He lay there for two hours before working up the strength to rise, Blalock said.

He remained eight days in the hospital, where his fever hit 105.7 degrees Fahrenheit, Blalock said. When Blalock returned home, he measured his recovery in months. “For two months,” he said “I couldn’t get out of the bed or off the sofa.”

Staff Writer Alison Young contributed to this report.