State's 16th human case of West Nile Virus found in Brookline

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

Health officials Friday confirmed a woman in Brookline is the 16th confirmed human case of West Nile Virus in the state this year.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed the woman in her mid-twenties had the virus. The woman, whose identity has not been released, was not hospitalized and has recovered, according to Brookline’s Department of Public Health.

Mosquitoes carrying the virus were first found in Brookline this year in July and the virus continues to be found at monitoring sites in the town, according to Alan Balsam, the town’s director of public health and human services.

“This points up the need to follow recommendations for self-protection until the first frost,” Balsam said in a press release Friday.

The mosquito-borne virus can cause encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, and residents are at the highest risk of getting the disease in late July through the fall.

A Worcester man in his 60s died from the virus earlier this month, the first death caused by the virus in Massachusetts since 2005.

The town is applying larvicide to targeted catch basins to prevent the hatching of new mosquitoes.

In a press release Friday the town also reminded residents to protect themselves from mosquito bites by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants and socks, using mosquito repellent or avoiding outdoor activity between dusk an dawn.