2 people die from West Nile virus in New Jersey, bringing number of reported deaths in U.S. to 5

Two people in New Jersey have died from West Nile virus, state health officials said Friday, bringing the number of reported deaths in the U.S. to five this mosquito season. 

According to health officials, two people in eastern Wisconsin and one person in northeastern Illinois have died of West Nile virus. A third person in Wisconsin has been hospitalized because of the mosquito-borne illness, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Thursday. Wisconsin’s cases involve residents of Outagamie, Fond du Lac and Brown counties.

In Lake County, Illinois, three people tested positive for the virus over the past seven days, the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center said Thursday. One of the victims experienced symptoms in mid-August and died shortly thereafter.

“Sadly, Illinois is reporting our first death of the year attributed to West Nile virus,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra in a statement. “This death —and the six that occurred last year in Illinois— are a stark reminder that West Nile virus poses a serious risk, especially to older people and those with weakened immune systems.”

West Nile virus is commonly spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. Thirty-three states have reported 289 cases of West Nile in 2024, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases of West Nile occur during mosquito season, which starts in the summer and continues through fall, the CDC said. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci recently announced that he was recovering from the West Nile virus. The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who headed up the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, told CBS News he most likely got bit by a mosquito while he was in his backyard. Fauci said he was hospitalized after he started not feeling well and was suffering from fever, chills and symptoms of severe fatigue. 

While most people don’t experience symptoms, about 1 in 5 can develop fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea or rash, according to the CDC. About 1 out of 150 infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness. There are no vaccines to prevent West Nile virus or medicines to treat its symptoms, the CDC said.

An average of 18 cases of West Nile virus are reported in Wisconsin each year, and the virus has been detected this year in mosquitoes, animals and healthy blood donors whose blood screened positive for West Nile virus, the state said.

West Nile virus was first reported in the U.S. in 1999 in New York. It gradually spread across the country.