Lincoln County reported its second human case of West Nile viruslast week, according to the state health department.

The Lincoln County case was one of seven reported Friday,raising the total number of human cases in the state to 159 thisseason, according to statistics released by the MississippiDepartment of Health.

Other counties reporting cases last week included three inRankin and one each in Adams, Marion and Warren counties. Thedepartment report did not release details about the cases.

The death of Tallahatchie County resident last week was alsoattributed to the virus, raising the state’s West Nile death tollto seven, according to health officials.

Fifteen of the state’s 159 cases have been reported in SouthwestMississippi, according to the health department. Copiah Countyleads this region of the state with five human cases. The latestreport raises Adams County to four cases, trailed by Pike Countywith three, Lincoln County with two and Walthall County withone.

Dr. Jerome Goddard, medical entomologist for the MississippiDepartment of Health, warned the public that 2006 was proving to bean especially active season for the virus.

Typically, he said, the peak season for the virus is betweenJuly and September, but the number of cases testing positive thisweek show the virus has continued to spread beyond its normalparameters.

This time last year, the state had reported 70 human West Nilevirus cases with five deaths, less than half the number of casesreported in 2006.

Dr. Mills McNeill, medical director for the State Public HealthLaboratory, said Mississippi is not the only state experiencing anoticeable increase in West Nile virus cases.

Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figuresreleased Tuesday, Idaho leads the nation in West Nile cases with642, far exceeding Colorado’s second-highest total of 273.Mississippi has the nation’s sixth-highest total of humancases.

Texas, however, leads the nation in deaths resulting from thevirus at 23. Only five states have reported more than five deathsattributed to West Nile. Aside from Texas, those states includeIdaho (10 deaths), Illinois (9), Mississippi (7) and Oklahoma(5).