JACKSON — Mississippi now has two West Nile virus deaths and 36 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness this year.
The two deaths, reported Monday, are in Forrest and Humphreys counties.
The state Health Department says it hasn’t been able to confirm that a death it attributed to the disease three weeks ago, in Grenada County, was caused by West Nile after additional tests were done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The counties with the most West Nile cases this year are Hinds with seven, Rankin with six, and Forrest and Madison with four each.
Humphreys and Lincoln counties have two each. Counties with one case each are Bolivar, Clay, Covington, Jones, Leake, Leflore, Lowndes, Noxubee, Perry, Scott and Wilkinson.
Last year, Mississippi reported 43 cases and two deaths.
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