‘It felt like my brain was cooking’: Central Texas man describes experience with West Nile Virus

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Harley Tamplin, a former KXAN employee, said he started feeling unwell a few days after the Fourth of July.

“I started feeling just really tired,” he said. “I had some body aches, like I’d had a really tough workout — and I hadn’t.”

His worry grew as his symptoms worsened, especially because he didn’t know what was causing them.

“By the third week, I was feeling really unwell, with fevers, headaches and just having no energy,” he continued. “It was really exhausting, because getting those fevers: it felt like my brain was cooking. It was really, really unpleasant.”

Tamplin said he had written several articles about West Nile Virus, but the prospect of it being the cause didn’t cross his mind. After seeing three doctors, he received that diagnosis. He said he was the patient whom the Hays County Health Department reported in late July.

“It was such a surprise, because I really didn’t think that it could be that, even though I had familiarity with it,” Tamplin said. “It’s kind of a novelty at first, but the novelty obviously wears off pretty quickly when you’re not well.”

He said he felt sick for an entire month. 

“I think I’ve been as sick or sicker in the past with other things like COVID, but I’ve never had something that lasted so long,” he said.

The most common mosquito-borne disease in Texas

“West Nile is still probably one of the most common serious infectious diseases that affects Texans over the summer and into the fall,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. 

As of early August, the CDC reported 140 cases of West Nile virus in 2025 in the U.S., including 12 in Texas. Hotez said that number likely represents only a fraction of actual infections.

“Only about one in five [patients] actually have clinical symptoms, so there’s probably a lot more West Nile than we’re aware of,” he said. 

Hotez said there doesn’t appear to be an elevated number of infections in 2025 compared to the last couple of years. Still, people, especially older adults and those who are immunocompromised, should be aware of their risk. 

“Older individuals can get pretty severe neurologic complications more commonly than younger individuals,” he said. 

Hotez said Culex mosquitoes carry the West Nile Virus, and they typically bite early in the morning. 

He recommends people take precautions if they’re outside in the evening: use EPA-registered insect repellent, wear long sleeves and pants when possible, and remove standing water around your home.