CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) - A 12-year-old Wellston boy is the first confirmed human case of West Nile Virus in St. Louis County this year.
The county health department said Thursday that the boy was hospitalized briefly but has recovered.
A spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services says there has been just one other confirmed case in Missouri, a 49-year-old man in Jefferson County. A case involving a 48-year-old woman from St. Louis city is listed as probable West Nile Virus.
County health department director Dolores Gunn says that even though serious West Nile Virus cases are rare, people should take precautions to minimize exposure to mosquitoes.
The county reported one case of the mosquito-borne illness in 2010.