MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Health officials say a south Alabama resident has died from a mosquito-borne virus.
The Department of Public Health says the death reported Friday was the first case of Eastern equine encephalitis in the state since 2014. The person got sick last month.
The illness is caused by a virus that's transmitted by mosquitoes. The department says an infection begins with a sudden headache, a high fever, chills and vomiting. Patients then become disoriented, along with seizures and a coma.
Eastern equine encephalitis was reported earlier this year in a mosquito sample and chicken from Mobile County and a horse from Houston County.