East Texas — As cooler temperatures are arriving and slowing mosquito bites, two new East Texas deaths attributed to West Nile virus were confirmed Monday by state health officials, bringing the total number of state deaths in 2012 to 50.

The deaths were in Harrison and Cass counties. Both were the first recorded deaths from the mosquito-borne illness confirmed in those counties this year, according to the latest data released Monday by Texas Department of State Health Services officials. 

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