The Florida Department of Health announced Monday that a third human case of encephalitis caused by the West Nile virus (WNV) has been diagnosed. The case is a 40-year-old man from Jefferson County. There have been two other confirmed human cases of WNV and two confirmed cases of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in Florida.

Jefferson County is already under a medical alert issued by health officials for EEE and WNV. The alert is now in effect for 30 north Florida counties, including: Baker, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Nassau, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington counties.

For more information on mosquito borne encephalitis, including reporting human cases and dead birds, visit the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Epidemiology’s Arboviral Encephalitis and West Nile virus web site at https://www.doh.state.fl.us/disease_ctrl/epi/htopics/arbo/index.htm