COLUMBUS, Ind. – Mosquitoes collected in Bartholomew County have tested positive for the West Nile Virus. This is the first time this year that a positive test has been reported. The Bartholomew County Health Department is now concentrating its mosquito vector control efforts in the areas where the West Nile Virus activity has been detected.
Homeowners should free their property of any standing water, which could be breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying the virus. Check flower pots, buckets, old tires, and clogged gutters. Another place where large numbers of disease-carrying mosquitoes breed is in accumulations of sewage water, so repair all malfunctioning septic systems.
West Nile Virus is transmitted to humans by a mosquito that has bitten an infected bird. A person bitten by an infected mosquito may show symptoms from 3 to 15 days after the bite.
Most infected with West Nile Virus will have no symptoms or mild ones. A few individuals will have a more severe form of the disease, including encephalitis or meningitis. A person with West Nile Virus can have these symptoms; high fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle weakness or paralysis, and confusion. Although the virus has been reported in people ranging in age from nine months to 94 years old, severe disease has been most often present in individuals over 50 years old or those with a weakened immune system.
The Bartholomew County Health Department is asking citizens to:
- Take special precautions when outdoors between dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active
- Use insect repellent containing DEET, as directed on the manufacturer’s label
