West Nile Virus Detected

For the first time in two years, there's a West Nile Virus outbreak in Palm Beach County.

You might say health officials' worst fears have "come home to roost."

The county health department has several flocks of sentinel chickens in the county that it monitors for West Nile.

One of the chickens in the central part of the county has just tested positive for West Nile virus, a disease that is spread by mosquitoes.

The symptoms of West Nile include headaches, fever, disorientation, muscle stiffness and weakness.

In rare cases it can also be fatal.

"It makes me, actually it makes me very nervous, because I bike almost every night and almost every morning," said Jessica Ewing of West Palm Beach, whom we spoke with outside a supermarket.

"I think we have to worry about it a bit. But I don't think we should get too paranoid about it also," said Valerie Linstroth of West Palm Beach, whom we found at an ice cream parlor.

There have been no human cases of west nile virus in south Florida reported so far.

West Nile Virus has not been detected in Palm Beach County since November 2007.