First West Nile case reported in Harris County

HARRIS COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- Authorities say a 90-year-old man is the first confirmed West Nile patient in Harris County.

Several weeks ago, Remi Garcia began to develop the shakes and a fever. After many tests at the hospital, doctors confirmed to his family that Garcia had contracted West Nile virus.

"I couldn't believe it. I knew he kept getting fevers and they thought he had three or four strokes because he has symptoms of a stroke, but it wasn't," Garcia's daughter, Debra Reyes, told Eyewitness News.

Since then, Garcia has been on a ventilator at Methodist Hospital as doctors work to reduce the swelling in his brain.

The Harris County Public Health Department has confirmed that Garcia's is the county's first case of West Nile in a human.

Harris County is only the third county in Texas this year to report a case of West Nile in a human.

Much attention has been directed toward the Zika virus. The City of Houston has recorded 11 cases of Zika this year, all of which were contracted during travel outside of the United States.

Harris County reports 9 cases so far this year.

Zika is carried by a different mosquito and impacts the human body differently, with the greatest potential threat to expectant mothers.