PANAMA CITY - An 84-year-old Gulf County woman who died this month is the state's first confirmed death from West Nile virus, health officials said Wednesday.
The woman died Sept. 7 at Bay Medical Center in Panama City. Gulf County is now under a state-mandated medical alert.
West Nile causes swelling of the brain. Mosquitoes spread the disease after feeding on the blood of infected birds. Eastern equine and St. Louis encephalitis, different mosquito-borne forms of the disease, are relatively common in Florida.
Small children and the elderly are most vulnerable.
