A Lincoln man has been confirmed as the first West Nile virus death in Placer County since 2018, health officials said. Placer County public health officials said Monday that the man was over the age of 65. While the risk from West Nile is low, people ages 50 and older have a higher chance of getting sick and are more likely to develop complications than others, according to health officials. Less than 1% of people can develop a serious neurological illness from the virus. There have been 286 confirmed human cases of the virus and 10 West Nile virus-related deaths in California so far this year.