A West Nile virus survivor shared the story of her harrowing journey with the brain infection she first thought was a stroke.
“Within a matter of days I was in the hospital and I got to the point where I couldn’t walk” said Tonya Riske, a Wisconsin woman whose life “quickly” changed after a single mosquito bite.
It started with slurred speech and forgetting words, symptoms that led her and her husband to think she was possibly having a stroke, Riske said.
“Brain swelling from a little mosquito,” she said. “It was just crazy how it happened, that from one day to the next my life changed that quickly.”
Riske said she is on the road to recovery from the infection, through she is still dealing with lingering effects.
City officials warn the risk of contracting the virus is “high,” as Chicago reported three human cases of West Nile virus in the last month amid more mosquitoes testing positive than usual.
The cases, reported in people between the ages of 40 and 80, were discovered in residents on Chicago’s Northwest and South Sides. Each began seeing symptoms in late July and early August.
“This is the season where mosquitos are out,” said allergist and immunologist, Dr. Juanita Mora.
Mora suggests everyone pack on bug spray with deet, especially senior citizens and small children, who are considered most vulnerable to the infection.
While most cases are mild, Mora advises anyone with symptoms of “headache, bad fever, bad muscle aches” to go to the emergency room.
“They can lead to complications that can include seizures, convulses or even strokes at some point and a meningitis type picture,” Mora said.
In extreme cases like Riske’s, you can even lose the ability to walk.
Chicago routinely sprays insecticide across the city to kill mosquitoes and will be continuing that protocol in seven neighborhoods Wednesday and Thursday, following the most recent cases.
“West Nile virus risk in Chicago is currently rated as high, and all Chicagoans are encouraged to take precautions against mosquitoes,” CPDH said in an alert.
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