Chico, CA — Health officials throughout Northern California are stepping up efforts to eradicate mosquitoes after a Butte County man died from the effects of West Nile virus.

The unidentified elderly man is the fifth person in California this year to die after getting sick with the virus. The other West Nile fatalities in the state were in Fresno, Kings, Riverside, and San Joaquin counties.

State health officials are advising people to wear insect repellent and get rid of standing water, where mosquitoes breed.