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Pinellas County health officials confirmed the county's 11th and 12th cases this year of West Nile virus on Wednesday. The new cases are women, ages 53 and 58. Both are county residents.
Because of privacy laws, officials are prohibited from releasing specifics about the cases. But since the first Pinellas case was reported July 29, most of the patients have been from the Largo and Seminole areas.
The Pinellas cases are the only ones reported in Florida this year, according to the state Health Department.
A resident reported to have the virus died last week, but Health Department officials are not sure the mosquito-borne disease killed the patient. The patient was over 75, and one of three people to develop especially severe West Nile symptoms, including paralysis, coma or limb weakness.
Older patients are more likely to get severe cases of West Nile, health officials said.
West Nile virus first showed up in the United States in New York City in 1999 and has since spread across the country.
About one infected person in 150 gets severely ill, with such symptoms as high fever, paralysis, confusion or coma. Among them, 3 to 15 percent die.
Researchers are unsure why Pinellas had never recorded a case of West Nile until this year. The county stepped up its spraying July 20, when the first sentinel chicken tested positive. Since then, the county has sprayed every day except one, when it was stormy.
To reduce exposure to mosquitoes, the Health Department recommends staying inside during dusk and dawn hours; wearing clothing that covers most of the skin; using repellent containing DEET; and removing standing water around homes.