A healthy blood donor in Shawano County has screened positive for having the West Nile virus, according to the Shawano-Menominee Counties Health Department. The positive test also confirms that mosquitos carrying the virus are in the area.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 13 human cases of West Nile virus has been reported this year in the state. The first case reported was in July, when a Barron County man in his 60s contracted the virus.

Last year, a Brown County man in his 50s and a Fond du Lac man in his 70s died from the virus , while an Outagamie County woman in her 80s was hospitalized from it. The virus is spread to humans, birds and other animals through the bite from an infected mosquito. The mosquitoes get the virus by feeding on infected birds.

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