Texas reported 844 neuroinvasive disease cases of West Nile virus in 2012, almost 30% of all cases in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
In all, 2,873 neuroinvasive cases were reported last year, with approximately 64% concentrated in just seven states – California (297 cases), Illinois (187), Louisiana (155), Michigan (141), Mississippi (103), Oklahoma (103), and Texas, according to the CDC. Besides Alaska and Hawaii, which have never reported a case of West Nile virus, Oregon was the only state with no cases of neuroinvasive disease last year.
The cases of neuroinvasive disease – such as meningitis, encephalitis, or acute flaccid paralysis – represent 51% of all West Nile virus cases reported in people. There were 286 deaths attributed to West Nile virus in 2012, the highest number for a single year since the virus was first detected in 1999, the CDC said.
