County Issues Health Warning Over Encephalitis in Lancaster

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, responding to the illness of a Lancaster man who had the first confirmed case of St. Louis encephalitis in the county since 1986, summoned a health department official Thursday to discuss what precautions residents can take to avoid the mosquito-transmitted disease.

County health officials announced Wednesday that an unidentified man, 65, had contracted the disease, which can cause inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. He was hospitalized in serious condition last month but has since been released.

Dr. Ellen Alkon of the county’s Department of Health Services told the supervisors that residents can help protect themselves from the disease, which in most cases is relatively mild, by avoiding mosquito-infested areas.

If they must enter those areas, she advised that they use insect repellents and wear protective clothing.

Encephalitis symptoms normally include headaches and fever. Symptoms in severe cases, which are rare, include confusion, paralysis, coma and death.

The stricken man told health officials that he had not traveled beyond his neighborhood before he was infected, and Alkon told reporters that no mosquito breeding pools had been found there.

She said the virus has been confirmed in mosquitoes tested near the California Country Club in the City of Industry and at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.

Health officials in May detected the virus in pigeons in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area in Encino.