From the Red Bluff Daily News
August 29, 2019
RED BLUFF — West Nile Virus cases have been reported in Butte and Shasta counties within the past month, but Tehama County so far has been spared the virus.
Two people in Butte County have been exposed to the virus, according to the Butte County Health Department. Two mosquitoes carrying the virus have recently been found in Shasta County.
The virus appeared in Tehama County as far back as 2004, when it was discovered in a dead crow found near Diamond Park in Red Bluff, according to Daily News archives. A person died from the virus in Tehama County in 2017.
The virus is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Besides humans, the virus can infect other animals such as horses, chickens, birds and squirrels.
Nearly 6,800 cases of West Nile Virus have been reported in California from 2003 to 2018, according to westnile.ca.gov. Of those cases, only 303 were fatal.