West Nile virus case in court in Canada

May 15 2007

Just as the first mosquitoes are appearing in parts of the United States carrying the West Nile virus, a court in Canada has ruled that an insurance company must pay a man compensation after he was bitten by a mosquito at work and developed the West Nile virus.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has said that Ace Ina Insurance must pay Ryszard Kolbuc $130,000 as his illness was to all intents and purposes caused by an accident.

Kolbuc was bitten by a mosquito while working as a plasterer in Toronto in 2002 and then contracted the West Nile virus; he became seriously ill and was as a result paralyzed.

At the time there were no other reported cases of the West Nile virus in Ontario.

However, Ace Ina Insurance refused to pay saying that while the insurance policy covered accidents, Mr. Kolbuc's disease was not an accident.

The court says the chain of events were unforeseen and unexpected and caused by an external source, a mosquito, and that falls within the ordinary definition of an accident and an accident can cause a disease.

The Court also awarded Mr. Kolbuc more than $42,000 to cover the costs of his initial trial and appeal.

West Nile virus usually results in a mild illness known as West Nile fever, which can cause fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands, or a rash.

However, occasionally some people develop a more severe form of the disease with encephalitis or meningitis and other neurological syndromes, including paralysis.

In 2005, 119 people in the U.S. died from West Nile virus and many more were sickened.