Most people who contract this disease have no symptoms, and 1 in 5 will develop symptoms that could be confused with the flu. However our risk of developing debilitating neurological complications increases as we age. If infected, the risk of contracting West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease in persons over 50 increases 10-fold, and in persons over 80 it increases 43-fold.

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West Nile virus is maintained in the bird population and transmitted to humans by way of a mosquito bite. Humans are considered dead-end hosts and cannot transmit the virus to other mosquitoes or other humans. There is no vaccine for West Nile virus, and so preventing mosquito bites is the biggest step you can take against contracting the disease.