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2nd El Paso-Area Person Dies Of West Nile Virus

An El Paso-area woman has become the second person in the West Texas city's area this year to die of West Nile virus.

City health officials say the woman was the fourth person in the area to have contracted the mosquito-borne virus in 2015.

Fifteen cases, but no deaths, were reported last year. The most severe West Nile outbreak around El Paso was in 2012, when 32 people contracted the virus and six died.

El Paso Public Health Director Robert Resendes tells the El Paso Times that while the two people who now have died this year also had other medical problems, the virus also can threaten the lives of healthy people.

While most people recover, there's no known vaccine against the virus.

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Information from: El Paso Times, http://www.elpasotimes.com

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.