The first human case of West Nile virus this summer has been confirmed in Illinois.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a person downstate, specifically in Southern Illinois,

A downstate resident has tested positive for West Nile virus, marking the first detection of the mosquito-transmitted disease in humans in Illinois this year — and one of the earliest cases of the sometimes fatal illness in nearly a decade.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that a person was hospitalized with the first case of West Nile Virus in southern Illinois for 2025. Of of 19 Illinois counties where the virus was discovered, the only confirmed human case is in Wayne County, about 90 miles east of St. Clair.