North Texas Registers First Possible West Nile Case

[TexasStooge]

DALLAS, Texas (KXAS TV) -- North Texas health department officials were on alert after a Dallas boy showed symptoms of a West Nile virus infection.

Although the case has not been confirmed, health officials said he showed some signs of having contracted the disease. Still, the boy displayed symptoms called "unusual" in West Nile victims.

"As far as we know, the child never had fever," said Dr. David Buhner, of the Dallas County Health Department. "That would be distinctly unusual. It's unusual to get severe neurological disease in a person this young. None of these things are impossible, just unusual."

Alberto Garcia Jr., 8, lives in Dallas, although reports said he began showing signs of the illness while on vacation in Mexico. West Nile infections require a two- to 14-day incubation period, so the boy could have contracted the virus while in Dallas.

City workers set up mosquito traps in the two areas of Dallas where the boy's separated parents live.

The health department wants to conduct one more test to confirm or dispel whether the boy has West Nile virus.

There have been no confirmed cases of West Nile virus in North Texas during 2004. Last year, Dallas County recorded 50 cases of the disease. Four people died locally from West Nile infections during 2003.