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Published: Sunday, July 29, 2018 @ 2:17 PM
Updated: Sunday, July 29, 2018 @ 2:17 PM
By:
Lawrence Budd,
Lucas Gonzalez
Warren County is simply the last place in Ohio where West Nile virus has been detected.
According to health authorities, Montgomery County is one of 24 counties in Ohio where positive tests were reported in 2018 "The West Nile virus activity in mosquitoes is the highest from Ohio since 2012, when 122 human cases were reported, "said Sietske of Fijter of the Bureau of Infectious Diseases of the Ohio Department of Health.
So far this year, authorities report that only one person was infected with West Nile virus in Ohio, a 71-year-old Lake County man hospitalized accordingly
. 479 positive samples in the entire state, 309 in Franklin County alone
Other counties with positive samples: Athens, Clermont, Coshocton, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Franklin, Hamilton, Hanbad, Lake, Licking, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, Medin, Portage, Richland, Ross, Scioto, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wood counties.
Last Wednesday, the Warren County Health District (WCHD) reported a sample taken on July 12 in a mosquito pool in Harlan Township. tested positive for the virus. It was the seventh positive test of the county since 2015.
PLUS: Ohio reports the first case of West Nile virus from 2018
"West Nile virus can cause a potentially serious disease," health officials say. "The WCHD remains proactive in treating stagnant water in public spaces with an environmentally friendly larvicide and trapping mosquitoes and having them tested by the Ohio Department of Health."
They reported collecting samples of "mosquito pools" on July 10 and July 12 that detected West Nile virus. The location of the sample collections declared positive this week was not available.
Dan Suffoletto, Supervisor of Public Information for Public Health – Dayton and Montgomery County, said that rather than report recent positive samples, the department wanted the public to understand that it is possible that mosquitoes diseases like West Nile virus or Zika virus are flying around them at any time.
"There are certainly mosquitoes out there with West Nile," said Suffoletto. "We want to make sure the message is there."
The Department of Health used social networking to spread this message, said Suffoletto.
MORE: A man from Ohio dies of West Nile virus in 2017
No positive sample test has yet been reported in Clark County, where last month, health authorities began performing a series of tests on mosquitoes, officially known as Mosquito Monitoring and Control Program
. The program aims to screen adult mosquito populations and test them against the virus, one of the viral infections transmitted by the most prevalent mosquitoes.
samples, traps are installed in areas populated with natural foliage, according to Larry Shaffer, director of environmental health of the CCCDD
.
PLUS: What You Need to Know About West Nile Virus in 2017
Although traps are located in permanent locations during the testing season, residents can contact the health district and request that a trap be placed in their area, according to Shaffer. said Shaffer. "They are not really meant to reduce the number of mosquitoes in the large-scale environment."
Mosquitoes are naturally acclimatized to warm weather, and they lay their eggs in the water, according to Shaffer. "Where puddles of water and stands for about a week is fertile ground for mosquitoes," he said.
Residents should check for objects that tend to accumulate rainwater. Frequent mosquito breeding sites include tires, buckets, gutters and any outdoor equipment.
Objects designed to hold water must be cleaned regularly or have constant circulation. Likewise, they should be emptied every six days, according to Shaffer.
"For agricultural environments where there may be troughs for livestock, you can put goldfish in the water and eat mosquito larvae"
Mosquito-borne diseases can be avoided wearing long sleeves and pants, avoiding the outdoors during peak activity hours, keeping the windows closed or using a protective screen and using EPA approved repellents containing diethyltoluamide. "People should understand that we are monitoring mosquito-borne diseases in the Clark Clark, but they should badume that the disease exists and that it is still taking precautions," said Shaffer
. The Nile virus will be identified in Clark County, a health department press release will be released to the public via the media, according to Shaffer.
