West Nile Claims First Californian Victim This Year
Sacramento, CA — A Kings County man has become the first Californian to die of the West Nile virus this year.
State health officials say the elderly man was the second person in the nation to die of the mosquito-borne illness this year.
A 70-year-old Missouri man died in June. Experts have warned that California could experience a particularly bad outbreak of West Nile because the mosquito population is high.
Health officials advise people to wear insect repellent and get rid of standing water, where mosquitoes like to breed.
There have been no human cases in Tuolumne or Calaveras Counties so far, however there was a bird and a horse confirmed to have been carrying the disease.
The virus killed 100 people in the country last year, including 28 in California.
