The state has recorded its first West Nile virus death of the year, a 91-year-old man from Williams County in northwest Ohio. Melanie Amato with the Ohio Department of Health said there was a single West Nile fatality last year as well, so this death is not entirely unexpected.
“It usually happens late August, early September due to the summer conditions,” Amato said. “We had a really wet beginning of the summer and it’s turned to dry conditions, which breed mosquitoes really easily.”
There have been eight reported human cases of West Nile Ohio this year, in Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas, Lorain and Williams counties. The worst year in recent history for the mosquito-carried virus was 2012, when 122 human cases were recorded.
