Arlington and Fairfax counties have discovered mosquitoes carrying the West Nile disease, and the first area resident has been diagnosed with the ailment, public health officials said Tuesday.
The first Arlington mosquitoes to test positive for the virus were caught in south Arlington recently, said Aftab Hussain, the county’s vector control supervisor. Of the 2,400 mosquito samples Fairfax County has tested, 14 were positive, including some discovered late last week, said Jorge Arias, supervisor of Fairfax’s disease-carrying insect program.
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No infected mosquitoes have been found in Alexandria or the District this summer. Maryland jurisdictions nolonger test mosquitoes for the virus, because they already know it is in the Washington area, said Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County’s health and human services department.
Infected mosquitoes can pass the virus to people. An estimated 80 percent of people infected won’t get sick, but the virus can cause an acute fever, according to the Virginia Department of Health Web site.
One in 150 infected people will develop severe symptoms, which can include vision loss, seizures and paralysis, according to the site. There is no treatment for the virus.
Fairfax is the only metropolitan-area jurisdiction to report an infected individual this summer. The 72-year-old Springfield man is recovering, Arias said.
It isn’t necessary to stay inside, but residents should make sure that window and door screens are functional, use insect repellent and eliminate standing water on their property, Arias said. Mosquitoes can breed in small pools of still water, such as bird baths, wading pools, puddles or collected rainwater in trash cans or recycling bins.
