MODESTO BEE
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

By KEN CARLSON
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: August 12, 2005, 04:14:10 AM PDT

An elderly man in San Joaquin County died from complications of the West Nile virus, the fourth human victim of the illness in California this year, health officials said Thursday.
He was identified by neighbors Thursday evening as Jim A. Rodgers, 86, a World War II veteran who lived in the town of Acampo, north of Lodi.

The announcement came as Stanislaus County officials reported four additional human cases of West Nile illness.

Connie Cassineto, a San Joaquin County spokeswoman, said the man's death from West Nile illness was confirmed through lab tests. San Joaquin County also has had two other confirmed human cases this year.

Officials with the county health department and San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District went to a mobile home park in Acampo on Thursday night to talk with the man's relatives and urge residents to take precautions.

Officials stressed, however, that anyone in the county is at risk of getting bitten by an infected mosquito. Dr. Karen Furst, the county's public health officer, based that warning on the human cases and reports of infected birds countywide.

"We must take the necessary precautions to avoid mosquito bites," she said, adding that the best way is to use repellent containing DEET.

In Stanislaus County, a 76-year old man with the neuroinvasive form of the disease is in the hospital in fair condition, said Dr. John Walker, the county's public health officer.

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