On June 21, the Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed the state's first case of West Nile virus in 2018, while the California Department of Public Health confirmed four cases of the virus last week. Both reports are roughly one month earlier than the first case of West Nile in 2017, according to ABC News.
In 2017, the CDC reported 47 states confirmed 2,002 cases of West Nile.
Between 1999 and 2016, 46,000 cases of West Nile were confirmed in the U.S., 2,000 of which resulted in death — around four percent of all cases of West Nile virus.
The Environmental Protection Agency suggests preventing mosquito bites through insect repellant and wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, which heavily reduces the rate of contracting the virus, according to ABC News.
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