A resident of eastern Oregon is the first person in the state to die of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, but state health officials declined Tuesday to release the city or county of death.

The person who died had “other severe medical problems,” state health officials did say.

The death occurred in a county “known to have significant levels of West Nile activity,” said Dr. Susan Allan, state health director in the Oregon Department of Human Services Public Health Division.

In Oregon, Malheur County is experiencing the highest number of illness-related human cases of West Nile, according to published reports. The county borders Idaho, which has reported more than 900 illnesses this year. Baker and Harney counties, in eastern Oregon, also have reported human cases of West Nile this year.

“If this were an area that was low risk, we would want people to know,” Allan said, and in that case the department would release the location.

Both the county involved and the family of the victim asked state officials to withhold the location of the death, Allan said. “I was the one who made the final decision” to withhold the location of death, Allan said. “This is already one of the communities where there have been notices that people should be aware of West Nile virus,” she said.

Grant County has had no reported human cases of West Nile virus, but recently reported six cases of the virus in horses. A health official in Grant County told the Blue Mountain Eagle newspaper Tuesday she had not heard of any death within the county.

Officials in Umatilla and Morrow counties told the Pendleton East Oregonian newspaper that the death did not occur there. A Pendleton man who visited Idaho on Labor Day in September did come down with the virus, but recovered.

“We are sorry for the family and friends,” Allan said of the first fatality in the Oregon. “Most cases of West Nile virus infection are mild, but for someone whose health is already fragile, the infection can be too much.”

Allan said there is little danger of additional cases of West Nile virus occurring this year, because of the onset of colder temperatures. Such temperatures reduce mosquito activity.

While the disease was slow in coming to Oregon, it now appears to be established in most areas of the state, she said.

The state’s first detectable case in Oregon of West Nile occurred in 2004. This year, 70 cases were recorded, eight more than in 2005. If Oregon follows the pattern experienced in other areas, there likely will be an increased number of cases next year, with the cases decreasing the following year to a “chronic” level, health officials said.

The virus is caused by a particular infected mosquito species. Generally, most people with the virus experience only mild symptoms but it can cause inflammation of the brain and result in death.