CDC: More Than 700 West Nile Virus Victims

ATLANTA, Ga. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the virus killed three people in the past week, bringing the nationwide death toll to 14.

Twenty-nine states have reported a total of 715 infections, with Colorado maintaining the unwanted lead with 263 cases. South Dakota had 117, Nebraska 99 and Texas 70, according to CDC's count.

Six in Colorado have died from the mosquito-borne virus.

The CDC also said that screening of the nation's blood supply found 103 blood donors in nine states carried the virus.

Last week, the CDC said the United States was entering the peak season for West Nile activity, and the nation's tally is expected to climb rapidly in the next month. Last year, about two-thirds of new cases occurred in the six weeks after August 7, according to the CDC.

Last year's season extended through October, with a final total of 4,156 cases of human infection, 284 of them fatal.

To prevent mosquito bites and the spread of West Nile, the CDC urges the public to take steps to rid their yards of pools of standing water that could be used by mosquitoes as breeding grounds, to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants outside and to wear repellent containing DEET before going out.