West Nile Escapes The East

A Louisiana man has been diagnosed with the nation's first human case of the potentially deadly West Nile virus outside the East.

The middle-aged man was reported in stable condition at Kenner Regional Medical Center on Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson said.

Twenty-five people have been infected and one has died this year of West Nile, which causes brain inflammation. The patients were in Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida and Georgia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Louisiana man frequented an area near where five dead birds tested positive for West Nile in recent months.

"It is not extraordinary that a person who is outside a lot and not taking precautions has come down with the disease," said Dr. Raoult Ratard, state epidemiologist. "But I don't think we are going to have an outbreak. It's very late in the season."

West Nile is spread by mosquitoes, which contract it by feeding on infected birds and spread it by biting humans or other animals.

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