COLUMBUS - Health officials are not surprised that the West Nile virus may have been transferred to humans for the first time in Ohio. Two possible cases in the state were announced earlier this week, and a third was disclosed Thursday.

        The virus, which has killed two people in Mississippi and seven in Louisiana, has been detected in mosquitoes and dead birds in most Ohio counties and in at least two horses.

        “This in not unsuspected. We anticipated a human case, it was just when,” said state Health Director Nick Baird.

        Cleveland's acting health director, Matt Carroll, said Thursday that a 40-year-old city resident was in serious condition at a hospital with suspected West Nile virus. He said the state has been informed.

        Ohio Department of Health tests on a 26-year-old Columbus man and a 76-year-old Cleveland-area woman showed indications of West Nile, the agency announced Wednesday.

        Results in all three cases must be confirmed by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory in Fort Collins, Colo. The CDC results in the first two suspected Ohio cases could be released as soon as today, Health Department spokesman Kristopher Weiss said.

        The department would not release the names of any of those who may have contracted the virus.

        The Columbus man has been released from Ohio State University Hospital and the Cleveland woman was in fair condition Thursday at Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights.

        Tests showed the two had a particular antibody in fluid surrounding the spinal cord or in the blood that indicates West Nile, Mr. Weiss said.

        He said he was aware of a news report of another possible case in Columbiana County, but added that the department has not been notified of it.

        The virus first was found in the state in a blue jay in July 2001. It is carried by mosquitoes and can be fatal to birds and horses, but rarely to humans.

        Mr. Baird said precautions that can be taken include wearing long sleeves and pants, applying insect repellant and avoiding being outside at dusk and dawn.

        Most people bitten by an infected mosquito don't become noticeably ill, but some develop flu-like symptoms, and people with weak immune systems can get encephalitis, a potentially fatal brain infection.

        The CDC reports 156 people have been infected in eight other states and the District of Columbia.

        Florida on Tuesday reported its first human case of West Nile, but health officials there said the patient probably got the disease during a recent visit to Louisiana.

        The number of states that have found the virus in humans, animals or mosquitoes this year rose to 37 on Tuesday, when South Carolina health officials announced they had found West Nile in a dead bird.

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