By WMBD-TV
FULTON COUNTY – The Fulton County Health Department announced a pool of mosquitoes in Cuba have tested positive for West Nile Virus.
According to their Facebook, the mosquitoes were collected on May 17.
The Administrator of Fulton County Health Department Katie Lynn said, “West Nile virus activity has been present in the state, and we expected to see activity again this year. These findings should serve as a reminder to citizens to take precautions to prevent contracting this mosquito-borne disease.”
Tips on how to prevent the spread of West Nile Virus can be found below:
- REDUCE – make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut.
- Eliminate, or refresh each week, all sources of standing water where mosquitoes can breed, including water in bird baths, ponds, flowerpots, wading pools, old tires, and any other containers.
- REPEL – when outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt, and apply an EPA-registered insect repellent that contains DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, IR 3535, para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
- REPORT – report locations to your local health department where you see water sitting stagnant for more than a week such as roadside ditches, flooded yards, and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes. The local health department or city government may be able to add larvicide to the water, which will kill any mosquito larvae.
Monitoring the spread includes laboratory tests on mosquito batches, dead birds and testing people and horses exhibiting symptoms.
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