30 Cases of West Nile Virus Reported in Louisiana

The Louisiana Department of Health says there are now 30 confirmed cases of West Nile virus in Louisiana, up four from Sept. 23.

A news release says 17 cases involve serious infections of the brain or other parts of the nervous system. Another 10 are flu-like West Nile fever, and three were diagnosed by blood tests of people who did not have any symptoms.

The report from DHH says Caddo Parish had 2 of the 4 new cases reported in our state.

The department says nobody has died of the disease this year.

Details from the report show at this time last year, 56 people had been diagnosed, 35 of those illnesses were serious "neuroinvasive" cases, and four people had died.

The department says three of the new cases were diagnosed the first week of October, and the fourth was diagnosed the previous week.