Paul Vercammen, a former CNN correspondent, believes he contracted West Nile virus while hitting golf balls at a San Fernando Valley driving range around dusk, without bug spray or long pants to protect himself. What followed was a frightening slide from a mild headache to severe neurological symptoms that left him hospitalized for five days with inflammation of the brain.
“I believe he got the virus at a golf driving range in the San Fernando Valley,” Vercammen said, describing the outing where he suspects the infection began, according to KCLU. He acknowledged he took no precautions that evening. “I was just so cavalier about it. I had shorts on, and I didn't have on bug spray,” he told the station.
Vercammen, who previously worked at KEYT-TV and spent more than two decades as a producer and reporter at CNN, first learned something was wrong after donating blood. The Red Cross notified him that his blood had tested positive for West Nile virus, the station's report states, before his symptoms had fully taken hold.
Symptoms Escalated Fast
The warning sign came quietly at first, then turned severe within days. By September 11, Vercammen said, “I had a raging headache, double vision, and I was stumbling,” per the same account from the Santa Barbara-based public radio station. The Santa Barbara Independent reported that in early September, Vercammen began to suffer violent headaches, got dizzy, and fell, eventually developing meningitis, encephalopathy and aphasia.
He was hospitalized at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, where doctors diagnosed him with both meningitis and encephalitis. “I had meningitis and encephalitis...severe dangerous swelling of the brain,” Vercammen said, describing the serious inflammation that gripped his brain during the ordeal. He spent five days in the hospital and continued to struggle with lingering effects afterward. “I do get tired easily, and the groggy-headedness is not completely gone,” he said.
California's Worst West Nile Season in Years
Vercammen's case landed amid what public health data show is an unusually active West Nile season across California. The state has seen a surge in mosquito activity that has pushed case numbers to a five-year high, according to the Los Angeles Times, following an unusually warm winter and a March heat wave. The paper also reported that virus amplification and detection in Los Angeles County began nearly two months earlier than usual this year.
Surveillance data cited by the Los Angeles Times show about 24% of dead birds tested through California's monitoring program came back positive for West Nile virus this year, compared with a five-year average of 13%. Mosquito testing showed a similar jump, with roughly 8 in 1,000 mosquitoes testing positive statewide, up from a five-year average of 5 in 1,000.
The Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District has confirmed that West Nile virus activity is elevated across the region this year, though the agency notes the virus is endemic to Los Angeles County and detected there annually. Separately, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has indicated that the number of people infected so far this season exceeds the five-year average for the same period, with mosquito pools and dead birds testing positive across many parts of the county.
Case Totals Vary Across Sources
Exactly how many Californians have been sickened this year is not entirely clear, with different sources citing different figures. KCLU reported that state health officials counted 298 human West Nile cases and 19 deaths in California so far this year, while the state's own West Nile virus surveillance website listed 378 human cases from 24 counties testing positive. The Santa Barbara Independent, meanwhile, reported that Los Angeles County alone had recorded 216 human infections and 10 deaths, which it described as the highest count in nearly a decade.
Officials have repeatedly urged residents to take basic precautions as the season continues. Vercammen himself now urges others to use bug spray, wear long sleeves and pants, and stay alert around standing water, which can attract mosquitoes even in small amounts like flower pots or dog bowls.
