Mississippi: Second death linked to West Nile virus

A second death in Mississippi has been linked to the West Nile virus, which has now been found in every state from Texas to the Atlantic.

The latest death, announced Tuesday, was recorded in Madison County, in central Mississippi. Officials previously had announced a death in neighboring Hinds County.

The mosquito-borne virus also has killed seven people this year in Louisiana, where at least 85 people have contracted the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 145 people have been infected this year in six states and the District of Columbia.

Also Tuesday, Florida reported its first human case of West Nile, but health officials said the patient probably got the disease during a recent visit to Louisiana.

The number of states that have found the virus in humans, animals or mosquitoes this year rose to 37 on Tuesday, when South Carolina health officials announced they had found West Nile in a dead bird.

Wisconsin: Mosquito-borne illness kills 12-year-old boy

A 12-year-old boy has died of a rarely fatal form of mosquito-borne encephalitis, health officials say.

Tests confirmed that Albert Stahl’s death on Friday was caused by one of several strains of a California encephalitis family, said Debbie Siegenthaler, director of health for LaFayette County, Wis.

Given that the boy seems to have contracted the disease in or around his home town of Gratiot, Wis., the strain is likely La Crosse encephalitis, she said.

The virus causes flu-like symptoms including nausea, vomiting and lethargy.

The emergence of West Nile virus in the Midwest has focused attention on killing mosquitoes and preventing bites. But Siegenthaler said La Crosse encephalitis has been a problem for years.

Texas: Parole board refuses to halt execution

Despite requests from the Mexican government and the United Nations, the Texas parole board refused Tuesday in Huntsville to halt today’s scheduled execution of a Mexican citizen for killing a police officer.

The Mexican government and the U.N. have asked U.S. authorities to stop the execution.

Supporters say 33-year-old Javier Suarez Medina should be spared because he was not allowed legal help from the Mexican government when he was arrested for killing Dallas police officer Lawrence Cadena during an undercover drug transaction in 1988.

Suarez, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, should have been informed he was entitled him to assistance from the Mexican government under terms of the Vienna Convention, a 1963 international agreement signed by the United States, supporters say.

Salt Lake City: Great Salt Lake shrinking in heat

The Great Salt Lake isn’t as great as it used to be: A lack of precipitation and a hot summer have left the lake at its lowest level since 1980.

“It’s been real hot and dry,” said Wallace Gwynn, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey. “The lake’s dropping like a rock.”

The lake was at 4,198 feet above sea level as of Tuesday. Gwynn predicted the lake will bottom out around Dec. 1 at 4,197 feet. The last time it was that low was in 1972.

The lake level is entirely dependent on the weather. The level normally falls from summer into late fall before lower temperatures and moisture raise it again in the winter and spring.

The lake’s historic peak came during the “flood years” of 1986 and 1987, at 4,212 feet. Its all-time low, 4,191.35, was in 1963.