Two more West Nile Virus cases have been confirmed in Massachusetts , bringing the total number of human cases for the year up to eight.

The Massachsetts Department of Health confirmed a woman in her 60s with exposure in Middlesex County and a man in his 50s with exposure in Suffolk County.

The disease is transmitted by mosquitoes.

“We are almost out of the peak season for the spread of West Nile virus to people in Massachusetts,” said Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD. “Over the last 10 years, 80 percent of people became sick in August or September, with 12 percent developing illness after October 1. But because some risk will continue until the first hard frost, we are encouraging everyone to continue to take the necessary steps to protect themselves from mosquit

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