West Nile Death In Louisiana From Virus

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Louisiana health officials say a Shreveport man has died from the West Nile virus.

The individual who died was between 60 and 74 years old. Martha Whyte, public health chief in northwest Louisiana, tells the Times she cannot provide other information, citing confidentiality rules.

The death is the first in Louisiana this year from the mosquito-borne virus. It is among four total cases in Caddo Parish in the past week. State health officials also recorded two cases of neuroinvasive West Nile disease and one case of the less serious West Nile fever. One of the more serious cases also involves a Shreveport resident.

State health officials recorded 34 cases of the more severe neuroinvasive disease in 2013, down from a high of 204 in 2002.