Ohio health department records first West Nile Virus death this year
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Health says a 91-year-old man is the season’s first fatality from human West Nile virus.
The agency on Wednesday reported the death of the man in Williams County, in the far northwest corner of the state. He’d previously been hospitalized with encephalitis.
There have been eight reported human cases of the mosquito-borne disease in Ohio this year. The other cases have been in Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas and Lorain counties.
Ohio reported 11 human West Nile virus cases in 2014; 24 in 2013; and 122 in 2012.
The health department advises people to use mosquito repellent and to wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, socks and shoes while outdoors from dusk to dawn. People should also eliminate standing water and containers where mosquitoes might breed.