BILLINGS — Montana health officials say an elderly man from Yellowstone County has died of West Nile virus.
The Billings Gazette reports the death of the unidentified man is the first in Montana since 2016, when two people died.
Riverstone Health officials said in a statement Wednesday the man died in a Billings hospital after a short stay.
There are 19 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne virus across eight Montana counties as of Wednesday.
The state has averaged 36 cases a year since it began tracking the virus in 2003.
State health officials say some people who are infected experience no symptoms and others develop a mild illness that lasts three to six days.
About one of every 150 people develop severe infections with symptoms of encephalitis or meningitis.