Michigan health officials confirmed a fifth death Thursday from the West Nile virus and said the number of cases statewide climbed to 87.
The death of an 87-year-old woman from the Grand Rapids area was confirmed in Kent County, said Michigan Department of Community Health spokeswoman Angela Minicuci.
"We do expect case counts to continue to go up," because this is the peak of the mosquito season, Minicuci said.
Health officials added seven more cases Thursday to the total number reported across the state this season. The number of people infected this year is the highest since the virus first appeared in Michigan in 2002.
Michigan is ranked as the sixth highest in the nation with the problem, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Michigan and the five other states -- Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Louisiana -- account for 70% of the nation's West Nile cases, the CDC said Wednesday. Only Alaska and Hawaii have no reports of the disease so far.
The outbreak should peak sometime in September and then drop when cooler temperatures end the mosquito breeding season.
West Nile disease is a mosquito-borne illness. Those at greatest risk are people older than 50, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems, such as kidney disease and cancer patients.
All five Michigan deaths have been among people older than 50.
Contact Tammy Stables Battaglia: tbattaglia@freepress.com. Staff writer Patricia Anstett contributed to this report.
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