Greenwich Time

No mosquitoes in state test positive for West Nile — yet

- By Amanda Cuda

No mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile virus during the first week of the state’s trapping and testing program.

From now through October, the state is testing mosquitoes for a variety of diseases, including West Nile, Zika and Eastern Equine Encephalit­is.

The Connecticu­t Agricultur­al Experiment Station on Tuesday released the results from its first week of testing. During that time, the state tested 13,629 mosquitoes at 92 trapping stations through Connecticu­t.

That volume of mosquitoes is “about average” for this point in the season, said John Shepard, assistant scientist with the CAES.

No mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile, though one pool of the critters, in the northern Connecticu­t town of Canaan, tested positive for Jamestown Canyon virus, which Shepard said is an emerging infectious disease first discovered in Colorado in 1961.

“It’s on the rise” in this region, Shepard said, adding that there have been two human cases of Jamestown Canyon virus in Connecticu­t, one last year and one in 2011— one last year, and one in 2001. Nationwide, there have been 166 human cases of the illness between 2000 and 2018.

Like West Nile and other mosquito-borne illnesses, Jamestown Canyon causes mild, flu-like symptoms in most people, but can cause more serious illnesses, such as meningitis and encephalit­is, in some.

Last season was the worst on record for prevalence of West Nile in Connecticu­t, according to the agricultur­al station. There were a total of 393 positive mosquito samples collected from 65 sites located in 53 municipali­ties. The state reported 23 human cases of West Nile, and one death — the first since 2006.

Shepard said it’s not unusual to not see much disease activity in the first week or so of testing. “Typically, we’ll start to see it pick up around mid-July,” he said.

 ?? Amanda Cuda / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? John Shepard of the Connecticu­t Agricultur­al Experiment Station in New Haven demonstrat­es how to hang a mosquito trap at the station on June 3.
Amanda Cuda / Hearst Connecticu­t Media John Shepard of the Connecticu­t Agricultur­al Experiment Station in New Haven demonstrat­es how to hang a mosquito trap at the station on June 3.

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