Daniela Berson
WMAL.com

BALTIMORE — (WMAL) The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene confirmed today that one Baltimore resident has died from the West Nile Virus.

The death was confirmed yesterday by the DHMH, and the person who died was described as an “older adult.”

West Nile Virus rarely has symptoms and poses significant risks to the elderly population and people with weak immune systems.

It is transmitted through the blood by disease-carrying mosquitos.

so far, 29 people in Maryland have contracted the West Nile virus – five times the number of infected last year.

This is the first recorded death from the virus this year.

A West Nile infection usually resolves itself naturally in a young, otherwise healthy person.

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