Toronto confirms 1st human West Nile virus case of 2017

Toronto Public Health on Friday confirmed a city resident tested positive for the West Nile virus the first human case diagnosed in the city this year.

• First positive test for West Nile virus in Toronto
• West Nile 'epidemic' in Ontario is imminent, says expert

"The risk of becoming ill from West Nile virus is low,however, now is a good time to remind residents to take the proper precautions to protect themselves from mosquito bites and to minimize the risk of West Nile virus," Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Toronto's acting medical officer of health, said in a statement.

It was not immediately clearwhere or when the resident contracted the virus.

Toronto PublicHealth confirmed 19 human cases of West Nile virus in 2016. It also reports 48 mosquito pools testing positive for the virus as of Wednesday.

The virus is mainly transmitted to humans by bites from infected mosquitoes.