State officials report second West Nile death

MUNCIE -- A Muncie man is believed to be Indiana's second fatality from the West Nile virus.\nLeo Stigler, 72, died Sunday at Ball Memorial Hospital after being admitted to the hospital two days earlier.\nStigler's wife, Esser Stigler, told The Star Press that a recent illness had curtailed her husband's hobbies of hunting and fishing, and she believes he was bitten by a mosquito near their home.\nState health officials, who did not identify the victim, said the official cause of death had not been determined but that the case tested "presumptively positive" on two separate occasions.\nThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will perform further tests to determine if the death was caused by West Nile virus.\nTest results from the CDC are still pending in the case of a Fort Wayne woman who died last week in Indiana's first suspected death from the virus, which has been detected in mosquitoes and animals throughout the state.\nAlthough most people infected with West Nile virus have either no symptoms or mild symptoms, state health officials say a few can develop encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, an inflammation of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord.\nState health officials announced Thursday that 15 additional probable human cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Indiana. The new reports bring the total number of probable or confirmed cases in Indiana to 57.\nAccording the CDC, 1,295 human cases of West Nile have been reported in 31 states as of Friday. Nationwide, the CDC has confirmed 54 deaths.