A 75-year-old man from Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze, a town in the Haute-Garonne department near Toulouse in southwest France, is fighting for his life in intensive care after contracting West Nile virus from a mosquito bite, according to his daughter.
His daughter, Katie, told the newspaper La Dépêche du Midi that her father had already spent several days in a coma and that doctors still do not know whether he will survive.
Katie said her father suddenly fell seriously ill on August 22. She said he suffered from headaches, vomiting, body aches and bouts of faintness, and that he grew so weak he could barely walk without help.
Sent home before being readmitted
According to Katie, he was first taken to one hospital, which sent him back home. His condition kept getting worse, so the following day she decided to take him to a different hospital instead.
Tests carried out there found a kidney infection along with neurological damage and meningitis, she said.
Diagnosed weeks after his first symptoms
The retired man was eventually transferred to Purpan hospital, a major site of Toulouse University Hospital that treats patients from across Haute-Garonne and the wider Occitanie region. There, further tests finally identified West Nile virus in his blood, several weeks after his symptoms first appeared.
West Nile virus was first identified in Uganda in 1937 and has since spread to parts of Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia. It circulates mainly among wild birds and is picked up by mosquitoes that later bite people or horses, and it is not spread directly from person to person.
Most human infections cause no symptoms at all or only mild ones, but in rarer cases the virus can trigger severe illness affecting the nervous system, including meningitis and encephalitis, particularly in older adults. There is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for the virus in humans, so severe cases are managed with supportive care such as intravenous fluids and monitoring in intensive care.
Bitten in his own garden
Katie said her father had been bitten by a mosquito in his garden in Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze just a few days before he became ill. She said his arm swelled up badly at the time, which she now believes may have been an early sign of the infection.
She said his health has remained extremely worrying since the diagnosis. He is in intensive care, she said, and has already spent several days in a coma. She said they simply do not know if he is going to live.
Daughter calls for vigilance
Katie, who has multiple sclerosis, said she wanted to share her father's story to raise public awareness of the risks posed by West Nile virus, especially for people who are frail or vulnerable. She said the main point was for people to be careful and to take steps to avoid mosquito bites, such as using repellents and clearing away standing water where mosquitoes breed.
56 cases recorded in France this year
According to Santé publique France, the national public health agency, 56 locally acquired cases of West Nile virus infection were identified in mainland France between May 1 and September 6, 2026. One of those cases was recorded in the Occitanie region and three in the Haute-Garonne department, where Katie's father lives.
West Nile virus is not new to France, and locally acquired cases are typically reported during the warmer months of the year, when mosquitoes are most active.
