Golden – An 82-year-old Jefferson County woman has died after contracting West Nile virus, the first human fatality from the disease in Colorado this year, health officials said today.
The woman’s name and town were not released. She died on Saturday of meningoencephalitis, and her case was reported to health officials today, said Nancy Braden, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Health Department.
It would be at least the 68th confirmed human case of West Nile in the Colorado this year and the first in Jefferson County. Of the cases statewide, 15 have resulted in neurological diseases that can result in death, particularly among the elderly, officials said.
Mosquitoes transmit West Nile, often picking it up from birds they bite and then spreading it to people.
Only about one in five infected people get sick. One in 150 infected people will develop severe symptoms including neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.
