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Health officials are urging borderland residents to protect themselves against mosquitoes after the city’s Department of Public Health on Thursday confirmed the second human case of West Nile virus in El Paso County this year. “It involves a 23-year-old man from San Elizario, but we do not have any more details available except that he is recovering at home,” said Joanne Bates, the department’s spokeswoman. “The case was confirmed by a laboratory.” West Nile symptoms can include fever, nausea, lethargy, headache and muscle aches, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Harvey Artsob, director of zoonotic diseases at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said this is a critical time of year when weather conditions can greatly influence the number of mosquitoes. Artsob said the U.S. has already seen 22 human cases of the virus this year, but most of those were in southern states. He said there have been human cases of West Nile in Canada every year since 2001, and the pattern this year is similar to previous years. “This is just showing the repeat pattern of activity, that the virus is endemic in certain areas, and this is just confirming West Nile is here,” he said.
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