Wheaton woman is DuPage County’s 5th West Nile case in 2017

DuPage County reported its fifth human case of West Nile virus this year.

A Wheaton woman in her 80s was diagnosed with the mosquito-born virus, according to the DuPage County Health Department.

“The recent warm weather that followed a cool spell may have caused some people to be less cautious,” Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said in a statement. “Please protect yourself and your family because the mosquitos that carry West Nile virus are still active.”

DuPage County saw its first human case of West Nile in August when a Glen Ellyn man in his 50s was diagnosed with the virus, according to the health department.

The first confirmed human case this year in Illinois was a man in his 60s from Will County in the southwest suburbs who was diagnosed in June, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

In all, 37 human cases of West Nile have been reported in Illinois this year, IDPH reports.

A Kankakee resident died of West Nile earlier this month, according to IDPH. They are the only person to die of the virus this year.

Last year, 155 human cases and six deaths were reported, according to IDPH records.