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# Two mosquitoes test positive for West Nile

BY DAVID SINGLETON (STAFF WRITER)
Published: July 19, 2013
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So far, the primary West Nile virus threat in Lackawanna County is for the birds.

The state's West Nile Virus Control Program reported Thursday two mosquitoes collected in the county - one in Mayfield and the other in Archbald - have tested positive for the virus. They are the first positives in the county in 2013.

County West Nile program coordinator Michael Chisdock said the good news is both mosquitoes were from a species - Culex restuans, commonly known as the white-dotted mosquito - that feasts exclusively on birds.

"They are not out there feeding on people," Mr. Chisdock said.

The problem is that while Culex restuans likes birds, other mosquitoes like both birds and people, and that is how the virus gets transmitted into the human population, he said.

In response to the positive samples, the county will step up its surveillance within a two-mile radius of the Mayfield and Archbald collection sites, Mr. Chisdock said.

"If we start getting more positives, typically what we would do is truck-mounted spraying through those areas," he said. "But we have to do more surveillance first. That's the next step - just to see if it is there. If we are not getting more positives, there is no sense spraying."

Mr. Chisdock said the mid-July emergence of mosquitoes testing positive for the virus is "pretty typical" - and a welcome contrast to 2012.

Last year, the county recorded its first positive mosquito sample on May 14, and they just kept coming. By the end of the season, an unprecedented 24 positives were confirmed.

It was a pattern repeated across the state.

Amanda Witman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said there were two early positives this spring in western Pennsylvania but then nothing anywhere in the state until July.

"This year, we are kind of seeing a 180-degree difference (from 2012) - very late with the emergence and not a high volume," she said.

Mr. Chisdock said mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus like to breed in containers with standing water, so it is always a good idea for people to regularly check around their homes and empty anything that could become a breeding ground.

Other than that, people should use common sense, he said.

"Just take normal precautions," he said. "If you're going outside where bugs are, put repellent on."

Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com

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