State officials say a second Iowan has died from the West Nile Virus. The state health department says a central Iowa woman in her 70s died earlier this month from what has been confirmed as West Nile. It was just over one week ago that state officials announced the first death from West Nile — an eastern Iowa woman in her 80s who became ill while in South Dakota and died after being transferred to an Iowa hospital. The latest death matches the total deaths in Iowa from West Nile last year — the first widespread influx of the disease. State officials now say there are seven confirmed cases and eight probable cases of the disease in the state. The human cases are in Boone, Cedar, Chickasaw, Dallas, Dickinson, Hancock, Jones,Lyon, Muscatine, Polk, Pottawattamie, Scott and Warren Counties, and two in Sioux County. State officials say the best way to prevent West Nile is to avoid exposure to mosquitoes. The risk of exposure will continue until the mosquitoes die with the first frost.
