83-Year-Old Man Is 3rd West Nile Virus Death In Texas
EDINBURG, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — South Texas health officials have confirmed that an 83-year-old man died this week of the West Nile virus.
Hidalgo County officials say the unidentified Donna man died Wednesday. They say it was the third death in Texas this year attributed to the virus.
West Nile is a mosquito-borne illness. People over 50 and those with weakened immune systems are considered the most vulnerable.
The worst year nationally for West Nile deaths was 2012 when 286 were recorded. Texas that year had about a third of the deaths and nearly a third of the most serious cases.
West Nile virus was first diagnosed in Uganda in 1937, but no cases were reported in the U.S. until 1999 in New York. It gradually spread to the West Coast.
Last month, the Dallas County Health Department confirmed it's third human case of West Nile virus this season.
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