Mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile virus in a Prince William County neighborhood last week, marking the first detection in the county, officials said.
Officials notified residents within a 1-mile radius of the infected site in the Belmont Bay area of Woodbridge late last week, said Karen Walker, branch chief of the mosquito control division of Prince William’s department of public works.
The detection is the second this year — West Nile was found in a group of Fairfax County mosquitoes two weeks ago, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
Walker said the infected mosquitoes were found during a routine weekly sample collection conducted by her group.
While human contraction is rare, Walker said, they’re taking many precautions, such as extra sample collection and spraying near the infected area.
“Evidence shows that West Nile is pretty much here — it’s endemic in this area, and established on the East Coast,” Walker said.
Alison Ansher, director of Prince William’s health department, said extra spraying will help decrease breeding around the infected site, but that residents should take their own preventative measures.
Residents are advised to wear long, loose and light-colored clothing, spray clothes with repellent containing DEET, make sure windows and doors have screens, and eliminate any sources of standing water in their yards.
With one of the few longstanding prevention programs in the area, Prince William’s mosquito control group sends out two to three trucks to spray along streets every night during the week, weather permitting, in addition to 17 traps monitored throughout the county.
“With 170 blocks and about 90,000 households, that’s a lot of people to service,” Walker said. “We service as many people as we can — and use trap data to get an idea where the most heavily infested areas are.”
Fairfax County saw a number of West Nile virus detections in past years, including a human contraction near Gainesville in 2003.
