State officials say we’re not safe from West Nile Virus yet.

The bug that carries the newest form of mosquito-borne encephalitis is at its peak population in late August and September according to the Iowa Department of Public Health, although a mostly dry summer has mosquito numbers overall down this year.

The virus showed up in 33 Iowa counties this year, and the department confirmed nine human cases this summer. All those patients — in Carroll, Emmet, Hardin, Kossuth, O’Brien, Marion and Plymouth counties — recovered. It’s only about a quarter the number of cases recorded last year and another sign that the peak’s past for the disease that first appeared in the country in 1999, and in Iowa in 2001.