so, here's the new theory about what made me sick for five days.

my symptoms: severe headache, high fever, body ache, weakness

my history: no encounters with anybody exhibiting any of those symptoms, no previous history of such illness. only oddball incident in the past few weeks involved being attacked by mosquitos, receiving 80+ bites on feet (yes, i counted. it was a slow summer.).

the theory: obviously, a case of west nile virus

the support: recent times article (july 7, 2003 issue) breaking down west nile. of 150 humans infected with the virus, 120 will not be affected. 29 will develop the following symptoms: fever, head aches, muscle weakness, and body aches. only 1 will develop the west nile fever or west nile encephalitis (the one that puts people in comas and caskets).

the moral of the story: be smart. use OFF, or you'll get sick. especially if you hang out in the delta.