West Nile virus is usually spread through the bite of an infected mosquito during the summer and fall. Your best bet to avoid the virus is to avoid mosquito bites when possible.

By late summer, what started as fever and fatigue had morphed into severe migraines, dizziness and partial loss of hearing. “It was fall turning into winter and I could not drive. It was really hard for me to just walk around the house; I could not walk up and down the stairs by myself,” she said.

A Fort Collins resident is confirmed to be Larimer County’s first case of West Nile virus this year and the third human case reported in Colorado.