CHICAGO, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Illinois public health officials Friday raised the death toll from West Nile virus to 36, the latest victim being a 93-year-old Springfield-area man who was hospitalized Sept. 15 and died Sept. 26.
State Health Director Dr. John Lumpkin also added 16 new cases to the state's total caseload, bringing it to 639.
Illinois leads the nation in deaths from the mosquito-borne disease, which was first detected in the United States in 1999. Michigan has the second-highest death toll with 28 in 379 cases.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 136 deaths in 2,631 cases but those totals do not include the latest figures from various states.
Louisiana, which like Ohio has 14 West Nile deaths, the third-highest total, Friday increased its number of total cases to 293 but reported no new fatalities.
Pennsylvania reported a fourth West Nile death, an 88-year-old Philadelphia woman who died last Friday.
Massachusetts officials upped that state's death toll to three, the latest victim an 80-year-old Malden woman.
Colorado reported five cases overall and no deaths, but two cases occurred in the same family: a 42-year-old man and his 18-year-old son. The two were bitten by dozens of mosquitoes during a Labor Day outing.
