A Canyon County resident older than 65 was hospitalized with West Nile virus meningitis and is now recovering at home, the first severe West Nile illness Idaho has confirmed this season. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced the case on Aug. 17, and it arrived while the virus was still being detected in mosquitoes across southwest Idaho.
For families in the region, the practical meaning is narrower than the word meningitis suggests. Most people bitten by an infected mosquito never feel sick. The case matters because it confirms that the virus circulating locally can reach the nervous system right now, during the weeks when Idaho mosquito activity is historically highest.
