At first, Jerry Roland Thomas’ illness seemed mild.

At least compared with the recent treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma the 84-year-old Huntington man had undergone in the summer of 2023.

“We took him to Fruitland, to St. Luke’s there, he was just shaking then, that was it,” Betty Thomas, Jerry’s wife of 61 years, said in a recent interview with the Baker City Herald.

“He was healthy and participating, always,” Betty said. “So they let him drive home.”

But early the next morning, in early August, Jerry’s condition worsened.

“It must have been about 4 o’clock he got up, he told me he couldn’t feel his legs,” Betty said.

The couple was soon back at St. Luke’s in Fruitland.

Doctors transferred him to the hospital in Meridian for more advanced care.

Jerry was diagnosed with an acute infection.

Later the diagnosis was more precise: West Nile virus, the disease transmitted by the bite of a mosquito.

“He was bitten by some badass mosquito with West Nile,” Betty said.

She said doctors estimated Jerry would survive for three months.

But Betty, after watching his immune system weakened by cancer treatments, didn’t think her husband would last nearly that long.

He lost consciousness. His family gathered by his bedside, and on Aug. 23, about two weeks after Jerry fell ill, Betty chose to end life support.

It was the couple’s 61st anniversary.

“We turned his spirit loose,” Betty said. “He’s with his daughter now.”

The couple’s daughter, Elizabeth Ann, born in 1965, had died years earlier due to lung cancer.

West Nile virus

The mosquito-borne disease, which was first detected in the U.S. in New York state in 1999, moved rapidly west.

The virus has been detected in mosquitoes in Oregon in most years since 2004, including Baker County.

Most people who are infected never have symptoms. But the virus can cause serious illness, and in rare cases such as Jerry’s, prove fatal. Most people who have serious complications from the virus have other medical issues that weaken their immune systems.

According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) there were 205 human cases of the virus from 2004-22. Four of those people died.

The virus was detected in mosquitoes trapped in six counties in 2023, including 29 separate batches of mosquitoes in Baker County, according to OHA data.

There were 10 confirmed human cases in 2023 — three in Baker County, two each in Harney, Malheur and Benton counties, and one case in Multnomah County.

Although there is no definitive proof, Betty believes Jerry contracted the virus from a mosquito bite while visiting Baker City not long before he became sick.

Betty plans to scatter Jerry’s ashes in Alaska, where the couple lived for many years and where their two children were born. The state holds fond memories for the family, she said, a place where Jerry once saw a halibut so large it made their boat seem small.

The couple were married on Aug. 23, 1962, in Nelscott, Oregon, one of the towns that were consolidated into Lincoln City. Jerry served in the U.S. Coast Guard and was transferred to Kodiak, Alaska.

Betty said Jerry, who was one of 10 children raised by his single mother, was an excellent father. She believes exposure to metal poisoning early in his military career could have contributed to his cancer diagnosis.

After Jerry’s retirement in Alaska, the couple moved several years ago to Huntington, where they enjoyed fishing in the nearby Snake River, and tending their garden.

Betty said she plans to cultivate the garden as usual this summer.

But it will be a smaller spread, she said, without Jerry to help.

2023

Mosquito batches: 29

Humans: 3

2022

Mosquito batches: 21

Humans: 2

2021

Mosquito batches: 20

Humans: 1

2020

Mosquito batches: 0

Humans: 0

2019

Mosquito batches: 4

Humans: 2

2018

Mosquito batches: 0

Humans: 0

2017

Mosquito batches: 9

Humans: 0

2016

Mosquito batches: 9

Humans: 0

2015

Mosquito batches: 4

Humans: 0

2014

Mosquito batches: 8

Humans: 4

Source: Oregon Health Authority