:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/Z45PGOVUWXKNF4YQ3T4HHWPYEM.jpg)
A mosquito surveillance trap in Kane County has tested positive for West Nile virus.
According to a news release from Kane County, the sample was taken the week of July 17 from a trap in Batavia that was monitored by the Kane County Health Department. This is the first sample from the county to test positive for the virus this year.
West Nile virus is most commonly spread by infected culex mosquitoes.
While no human cases of West Nile Virus have been reported so far this year in Illinois, the Illinois Department of Public Health reminds residents that the virus still remains a health threat, especially for people older than 50.
According to the IDPH, there were 34 human cases (which are significantly under-reported) and eight deaths attributed to the disease in the state in 2022, the most in any year since 2018, when there were 17 deaths.
The best way to prevent West Nile Virus disease or any other mosquito-borne illness is to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home and to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites, according to the release.
Precautions include:
• Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active, especially between dusk and dawn. Use prevention methods whenever mosquitoes are present.
• When outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and apply insect repellent that includes DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
• Make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut, especially at night.
• Change water in birdbaths weekly. Properly maintain wading pools and stock ornamental ponds with fish. Cover rain barrels with 16-mesh wire screen. In communities where there are organized mosquito control programs, contact your municipal government to report areas of stagnant water in roadside ditches, flooded yards etc. that may produce mosquitoes.
Addition information about West Nile Virus can be found on the Kane County Health Department’s website at https://www.kanehealth.com.