Health Officials Report The First Human Case Of West Nile In Illinois This Year

Andy Novinger, an assistant entomologist with the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, explains how a gravid mosquito trap works at the district’s facility in Wheeling, Ill., Thursday, May 29, 2003. The trap has a tub of stagnant water, which attracts female mosquitoes, and when the mosquitoes hover over the water, they are sucked into the trap by a battery-powered fan. The district has 14 of these traps set up in various residential areas to collect mosquitoes and test them for West Nile Virus and other mosquito-bourn illnesses.
Andy Novinger, an assistant entomologist with the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, explains how a gravid mosquito trap works at the district's facility in Wheeling, Ill., Thursday, May 29, 2003. The trap has a tub of stagnant water, which attracts female mosquitoes, and when the mosquitoes hover over the water, they are sucked into the trap by a battery-powered fan. The district has 14 of these traps set up in various residential areas to collect mosquitoes and test them for West Nile Virus and other mosquito-bourn illnesses. Brian Kersey/AP
Andy Novinger, an assistant entomologist with the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, explains how a gravid mosquito trap works at the district’s facility in Wheeling, Ill., Thursday, May 29, 2003. The trap has a tub of stagnant water, which attracts female mosquitoes, and when the mosquitoes hover over the water, they are sucked into the trap by a battery-powered fan. The district has 14 of these traps set up in various residential areas to collect mosquitoes and test them for West Nile Virus and other mosquito-bourn illnesses.
Andy Novinger, an assistant entomologist with the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, explains how a gravid mosquito trap works at the district's facility in Wheeling, Ill., Thursday, May 29, 2003. The trap has a tub of stagnant water, which attracts female mosquitoes, and when the mosquitoes hover over the water, they are sucked into the trap by a battery-powered fan. The district has 14 of these traps set up in various residential areas to collect mosquitoes and test them for West Nile Virus and other mosquito-bourn illnesses. Brian Kersey/AP

Health Officials Report The First Human Case Of West Nile In Illinois This Year

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It’s usually late July or early August before Illinois has its first human case of West Nile. Health officials say an adolescent in west-central Illinois became severely ill in late May. 

Local health officials are quick to point out that the mosquitos that spread the Zika virus are a different breed, known as house mosquitos, and are rarely found in Illinois.

Additional information about West Nile virus can be found on the IDPH website.