A suburban Cook County resident in their 60s has died after contracting West Nile virus, marking the first virus-related death reported this year in Illinois, health officials announced Wednesday.

Lab testing has confirmed that the virus was a contributing factor in the resident’s death, the Cook County Department of Public Health said in a statement.

The health department did not provide details about what community the resident lived in, their name, or how they contracted it.

Since the start of the surveillance period on May 11, suburban Cook County has recorded 33 human cases of West Nile virus, which the department said is nearly double last year’s count. Of those cases, 22 were neuroinvasive, meaning the virus impacted a patient’s central nervous system.

By comparison, 19 cases an

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