Toronto reports first two West Nile deaths of 2005

Toronto on Tuesday reported two deaths related to the West Nile Virus, the first for three years in Canada’s largest city.

The city said a 63-year-old man and a 90-year-old man died over the weekend from West Nile, which is carried by birds and transmitted to humans by mosquito bites.

Health Canada’s Web site shows no deaths from the virus so far this year, although it lists almost 50 cases, most of them in three provinces.

In 2002, the first year the West Nile Virus was detected in Toronto, there were 166 cases of the virus and 10 deaths. But there were no deaths from the virus in either of the following two years.

Toronto says the West Nile virus season is at its peak, and officials urged citizens to try and avoid mosquito bites by wearing light colored clothing, using mosquito repellent and by fixing holes in door and window screens.

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