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Brigit (left) and Todd Holmes, on one of their many adventures together. Todd said it was Canadian Blood Services who notified him about a West Nile virus diagnosis last Friday.<\/p>\n
He decided to take matters into his own hands by posting about his plight on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I realized this had not been done \u2014 that no one is aware \u2014 that\u2019s when I reached out and I put things on Facebook, so everyone could be aware,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause knowing this has happened to me, I wanted to try to prevent others from having the same experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 58-year-old from Libau said his symptoms started with deep chills and evolved to include headaches, pressure behind his eyes, exhaustion, joint pain and a lack of appetite.<\/p>\n
The call from Canadian Blood Services shed light on the illness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey indicated that they were screening people for West Nile and my blood sample showed that I had West Nile,\u201d he said. \u201cAutomatically, my wife and I were saying: \u2018OK, this is making some sense, just because I\u2019ve been feeling odd.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He suspects he contracted the virus, which has sickened him for about a week, after a hike in Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park. He had forgotten he cleared out his bag of bug repellent for an earlier bike ride, and was swarmed by mosquitoes as a result.<\/p>\n
A provincial spokesperson said all possible cases of West Nile virus are reported to the Manitoba Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care department and to regional health authorities, which includes notifications from Canadian Blood Services. It said these cases are verified by public health before being posted online, with the sites updated every Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe province also communicates about the elevated risk of WNV through social media and may also issue news bulletins if a high number of human WNV cases are identified,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Holmes said the stats are important and people should be aware of confirmed cases.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen I was reviewing the Facebook post, there were people who had said they had gone to Hecla and shortly thereafter, they\u2019ve been suffering from these major headaches, and that is one of the signs that you have it,\u201d he said, stressing that had people known that West Nile was present in Manitoba, they might have gotten checked out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all responsible for helping each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s public health agency says on its website the majority of people infected with West Nile Virus do not feel sick. Others have mild symptoms that tend to appear two to 15 days after infection, including fever, aches and headache.<\/p>\n
People can protect themselves by using insect repellent, the agency said.<\/p>\n
morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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