First West Nile death in 2016

A resident of Hinds County is the first fatality of this year's West Nile virus season in Mississippi, the state Department of Health announced Thursday.
Hinds County is about 125 miles southwest of Starkville. Two new human cases of West Nile have also been confirmed in Lee and Marion counties, 60 miles north and 210 miles southwest of Starkville, respectively. Those cases bring the 2016 total so far to 18, state health officials said.
West Nile cases have been reported in a dozen Mississippi counties this year, including neighboring Lowndes County. In 2015 the state had 38 West Nile cases including one death.
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