West Nile strikes home

FORT WAYNE -- A 56-year-old Allen County resident has apparently died from the West Nile virus, the county's coroner said Wednesday.\nThe official cause of death has not been confirmed and preliminary autopsy results were inconclusive, but state health officials reported a "presumptive positive" blood test for the virus Aug. 23, Allen County Coroner Dr. E. Jon Brandenberger said.\n"Although the cause of death has not yet been determined, recent medical history, clinical presentation and the course of illness and findings at autopsy are consistent with acute West Nile virus," Brandenberger said.\nThe victim's name was not released.\nAdditional tests, expected to be completed in two to four weeks, may determine the exact cause of death, Brandenberger said.\nIf confirmed, it would be the 33rd death from the virus in the United States this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\nHealth officials in Elkhart County also reported a human case of West Nile virus Wednesday, the first such case there.\nThe Elkhart-area resident, in his or her 50s, was not hospitalized and was recovering from the virus, the Elkhart County Health Department said. The victim's name was not released.\nIndiana had its first confirmed human case of West Nile Aug. 9 in a 46-year-old Wabash County resident. The victim was not reported to have encephalitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the brain that can be caused by the virus, but was hospitalized for several days before being released.\nSince then, several probable human cases have been reported.\nWest Nile first appeared in the United States in 1999 in the New York City area and has since spread west.\nSo far this year, 32 people nationwide have died of West Nile virus, and more than 670 have been infected. The virus also has killed at least eight horses in Indiana and might have sickened hundreds more.