On May 18th, the Environmental Services Division staff took a sample from a pool of larva belonging to Culex pipiens-restuans, the common house mosquito, at Marumsco Acres Lake Park. Weeks before the official start of the summer, this year’s first positive sample of the West Nile Virus was found.

In response, Mosquito and Forest Pest Management Services applied insecticide throughout the Marumsco area to target adult mosquitoes. Although the county’s focus is usually on applying “larvicide” to pools of stagnant water, the number of mosquitos in the area and presence of West Nile prompted their team to spray insecticide.

All species of adult female mosquitos must lay their eggs in standing water to reproduce. As this stage lasts five to fourteen days, turning over water on your property is a great way to fight mosquitos on your property. The Environmental Services Division has an information page on mosquitos as well as their efforts to combat them. You can view the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention West Nile Virus Fact Sheet here.

The West Nile virus was first identified in 1937 in Uganda in eastern Africa. It was first discovered in the United States in the summer of 1999 in New York. Since then, the virus has spread throughout the US.

– Coles District Staff