Louisiana has confirmed the first cases of West Nile Virus this year. Out of the three confirmed cases, two were of the neuroinvasive type, which is the more severe manifestation of the disease. WNV is one of the four common causes of viral encephalitis in Louisiana, the others being Saint Louis Encephalitis, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and California Encephalitis. The CDC uses standard case definitions for surveillance of cases of viral encephalitis through its ArboNET endeavor.
In 2014, Louisiana had reported 63 cases of neuroinvasive disease caused by WNV and if the vector control measures are not stringently achieved this year, there is a likelihood that a similar number of cases maybe replicated this year as well.
The CDC, in its finalized report from ArboNET 2014, states:
Neuroinvasive disease cases have been reported to ArboNET from the following states for 2014: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
However, the preliminary case mapping from ArboNET from 2015 (last updated in 2015), fails to show Louisiana’s cases:
