Mosquitoes test positive for WNV

PAWTUCKET – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management on Friday announced that test results from a mosquito sample from a trap set in Pawtucket on July 30 has tested positive for West Nile Virus.

In addition to Pawtucket, a trap set in Tiverton also tested positive for West Nile. These are the first findings of West Nile Virus in Rhode Island this year, but DEM officials say they are not unexpected, as mosquito-borne diseases are more prevalent in late summer and early fall and risk typically lasts until the first frost.

The positive findings came from mosquitoes trapped by DEM staff and tested at the Rhode Island Department of Health State Health Laboratories. The remaining 157 mosquito samples from 39 traps set around Rhode Island on July 30 have tested negative for West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

As of this latest test, two mosquito samples in Rhode Island have tested positive for West Nile Virus, while four mosquito samples have tested positive for EEE.

Public health officials in Massachusetts say an unusually high number of mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile virus on Cape Cod.

The Cape Cod Times reports that state Department of Health said Thursday 14 mosquito samples from Falmouth, Barnstable, Dennis, Bourne and Yarmouth tested positive for the virus after being trapped Tuesday and July 31.

Gabrielle Sakolsky, assistant superintendent with the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project, says they had nine samples test positive for the virus for the whole season last year.