MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Health officials are reporting three new human cases of West Nile virus in Shelby County, raising the state's total to 12 this year.
Shelby County's health department said toay that a 15-year-old boy, a 46-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman have contracted the disease. The cases raise the county's total this year to six.
Humans become infected by mosquito bites. Mosquito populations are often at their peak between May and October.
Symptoms include high fever, headache, disorientation, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. Individuals older than 50 are more likely to develop serious symptoms.
Residents are asked to manage mosquito populations around their homes by eliminating standing water where mosquitoes lay eggs, repairing broken windows and door screens and cleaning rain gutters.