Topeka ? The state’s 18th human case of West Nile virus this year has been confirmed in a 63-year-old resident of north-central Kansas, health officials said Tuesday.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the individual lives in Osborne County and began showing signs of the virus on Aug. 21.

Kansas has recorded one West Nile death this year — Aug. 10, in El Dorado.

Health officials expect cases to increase because West Nile virus season peaks in August and September.

The virus was first detected in Kansas this year in May in Crawford County.