Sandusky County Public Health is notifying the public that it has found West Nile Virus in a mosquito pool collected in late July in Vickery, within Townsend Township.
Lydia Bruno with the SCPH said no one in the county has tested positive with West Nile Virus.
“The mosquitoes are collected four times a week,” she said. Those insects are then sent for testing to the Ohio Department of Health lab. The positive result is the first time this summer West Nile has been detected in Sandusky County.
Bruno said the county has found West Nile in past years of mosquito tests.
“This is our first positive pool of the season,” she said. The county has 40 locations they test throughout the summer.
West Nile was first found in Ohio’s birds and mosquitoes in 2001. It is now established in Ohio,where cases occur each year and seasonal epidemics can flare up under certain conditions in the summer andcontinue into the fall, according to the health department.
The health department expects that staff will find more cases in the county as mosquito season continues, Bruno said.
More tests will be conducted in Townsend Township, she said.
Most people infected with West Nile do not develop symptoms. However, some people can develop fever and other symptoms, and severe illness can occur, particularly in older adults and people with certain medical conditions.Residents who develop concerning symptoms after mosquito exposure should contact their health care provider.
Avoid mosquitoes by:
Reduce mosquito breeding by:
SCPH’s Environmental Health Team continues to work to lessen the spread of mosquito-borne diseases through routine surveillance, community outreach and larvicide application, funded by the Mosquito Control Grantprogram from the Ohio EPA. The health department has a limited supply of mosquito prevention items, such as screen repair kits, mosquito dunks and repellent wipes available at SCPH, 2000 Countryside Drive, Fremont.
rbrooks@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Mosquitos test positive for West Nile Virus in Sandusky County
Reporting by Rebecca Brooks, Fremont News-Messenger / Fremont News-Messenger
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By Rebecca Brooks, Fremont News-Messenger | USA TODAY Network
