West Nile-Positive Mosquitoes Found in Montgomery

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By Amie Schaenzer (Patch Staff)

Four new batches of mosquitoes have tested positive this week for West Nile Virus in Kane County, the Kane County Health Department reported Thursday.

The batches were collected in Elgin, Gliberts, Carpentersville and Campton Township, according to the health department news release. So far this year, traps near Elburn, Elgin, Aurora and Montgomery have also yielded batches of mosquitoes testing positive for the disease.

“This is the time of year in late summer when we can expect to see an increase in West Nile activity,” health officials said in the news release.

With that in mind, residents are reminded to take precautions to avoid contracting West Nile Virus.

“The best way to prevent West Nile disease or any other mosquito-borne illness is to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home and to take personal precautions to avoid mosquito bites,” according to the health department press release.

Other precautions include:

• Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active, especially between dusk and dawn. Use prevention methods whenever mosquitoes are present.
• When outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and apply insect repellent that includes DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus according to label instructions. Consult a physician before using repellents on infants.
• 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, especially at night.
• Change water in birdbaths weekly. Properly maintain wading pools and stock ornamental ponds with fish. Cover rain barrels with 16-mesh wire screen. In communities where there are organized mosquito control programs, contact your municipal government to report areas of stagnant water in roadside ditches, flooded yards and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes.

West Nile virus is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. Only about two persons out of 10 who are bitten by an infected mosquito will experience any illness. Illness from West Nile is usually mild and includes fever, headache and body aches, but serious illness, such as encephalitis and meningitis, and death are possible. Persons older than 50 years of age have the highest risk of severe disease.

To view a map of where the health department monitors for West Nile Virus in Kane County, visit this website.