Indiana Reports First West Nile Death of 2012

Indiana health officials say an Evansville-area resident has died of West Nile virus.

State Department of Health spokeswoman Amy Reel says a Vanderburgh County resident is the first person to die from the mosquito-borne virus in Indiana this year. She says she could not disclose any information about the victim.

The agency says Indiana has six other confirmed cases in five counties:  Fulton, Hamilton, Jackson, Marion, and Monroe.

There's no vaccine or cure for the disease. The health department says it usually causes a milder form of the illness that can include fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands and rash.

The health department recorded one death from the disease in each of the last two years. The first human cases in Indiana occurred in 2002, when 11 people died.