West Nile Virus: 3 Deaths Reported in Wisconsin, Illinois, Health Officials Say

Health officials are urging Americans to take steps to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

Mosquitoes in a container in a laboratory in Germany, which saw its first case of West Nile virus in 2019, in a 2019 file photograph. Steffen Kugler/Getty Images

Two people have died and another has been hospitalized in Wisconsin after contracting West Nile virus (WNV) illness, health officials have confirmed, just one day after a man died in Illinois from the same pathogen.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) confirmed the two deaths in the state in an Aug. 29 press release, noting that the three cases involved residents in Outagamie, Fond du Lac, and Brown counties.