West Nile still in Curry

Staff and wire reports

SANTA FE — Five new non-fatal cases of West Nile virus, including one with severe symptoms from Curry County, have brought New Mexico’s total of human cases to 116, state health officials said Monday.

The most severely ill of the five new patients is a 60-year-old Curry County man with meningitis, while mild cases were found in a 42-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman, both also from Curry County.

State officials do not release names of West Nile victims.

So far, 48 of the 116 West Nile patients in New Mexico have had the more serious symptoms, including encephalitis or meningitis. The other 68 cases had milder symptoms that usually have not required hospitalization.

So far this year, the state has had four fatal West Nile cases, all among elderly residents, one each in Chaves and Sandoval counties and two in San Miguel County.