The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Resident tests positive for West Nile virus
HARTFORD » A New Haven resident is the first person in Connecticut this season to test positive for West Nile virus (WNV), according to a release from The Connecticut Department of Public Health.
The patient, between 5059 years of age, became ill during the last week of August, according the Department of Health, and was hospitalized with high fever, dehydration and confusion. Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of antibodies to WNV in the patient’s cerebrospinal fluid.
“The identification of a Connecticut resident with West Nile virus associated illness that required hospitalization underscores the potential seriousness of the infection,” DPH Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino said in the release.
Pino added “using insect repellent, covering bare skin and avoiding being outdoors during the hours of dusk and dawn” are effective ways to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
Dr. Philip Armstrong, Medical Entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment station (CAES), said weather conditions are favorable for the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus.
He added these types of mosquitoes are most abundant in urban and suburban areas with dense human populations.
West Nile virus positive mosquitoes were first identified in New Haven on Aug. 16, Armstrong said in the release.
West Nile virus has been detected in the state every year since 1999.
The following towns have had West Nile Virus detected in mosquitoes collected at trap sites in 2017, according to the release: Branford, Bridgeport, Darien, Farmington, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Groton, Guilford, Middlefield, Milford, New Canaan, New Haven, North Branford, North Stonington, Norwalk, Orange, Plainfield, Redding, Shelton, South Windsor, Stamford, Stratford, Voluntown, West Hartford, West Haven and Westport.
The first positive mosquitoes were identified on June 29 in West Haven, according to the release.
The risk is highest during August and September in Connecticut and typically subsides in October as mosquitos die off due to lower temperatures.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment StationCAES maintains a network of 91 mosquito-trapping stations in 72 municipalities throughout the state. Mosquito traps are set Monday – Thursday nights at each site every 10 days on a rotating basis.
Mosquitoes are grouped (pooled) for testing according to species, collection site, and date.
Positive findings are reported to local health departments and on the CAES website at http://www. ct.gov/caes/mosquitotesting.
For information on WNV and other mosquito-borne viruses and how to prevent mosquito bites, visit the Connecticut Mosquito Management Program Web site at www.ct.gov/mosquito.