North Shore Mosquito Spraying Follows West Nile Positive Tests

GLENCOE, IL — The North Shore Mosquito Abatement District plans a second straight day of mosquito control operations Thursday night. The spraying and insecticide application will take place towns where mosquitoes retrieved from district traps tested positive for West Nile virus for the first time in 2018.

From 8 p.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Friday, the district will target parts of Glencoe, Northbrook, Northfield and Winnetka, weather permitting. The district said it is unable to carry out the operations if winds exceed 10 mph, nighttime temperatures fall below about 65 degrees or it rains.

Nine batches of mosquitoes in the northern Cook County mosquito abatement district have tested positive out of nearly 500 tested as of June 25.

On Monday, the district detected the first mosquitoes with West Nile virus in Evanston, Glencoe and Northfield.

Last week, positive tests were reported in Skokie and Lincolnwood, and last month the first mosquitoes with West Nile found in Illinois in 2018 were reported in Glenview and Morton Grove.

Spraying took place in Evanston, Glenview, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles and Skokie on Wednesday night.

Statewide there have been 55 West Nile-positive batches of mosquito found by health officials in 14 counties, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The lone human case reported so far this year is a Chicago woman in her 60s.

Since relatively healthy people with West Nile can be asymptomatic, human cases go underreported, according to public health officials. Those infected can experience fever, nausea and headaches for week. Eight people died in Illinois among 90 confirmed human cases last year.

"West Nile virus can cause serious illness in some people," Nirav Shah, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said last week. "So it's important that you take precautions like wearing insect repellent and getting rid of stagnant water around your home."

Recent heavy rains are likely to cause an increase in mosquito populations over the next week or two, according to the district's weekly report.

Residents were reminded to check their property for any items that might hold stagnant water and report places where standing water is left or days or any dead or dying birds to local officials.

To report areas of stagnant water that may produce mosquitoes in roadside ditches, flooded yards or elsewhere call 847-446-9434 or report standing water or a dead bird to the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District.

Map of area affected by Thursday night's mosquito control operations:

Related:

• West Nile Mosquitoes Found In Evanston, Glencoe And Northfield
• First Human Case Of West Nile Virus In Illinois For 2018
• First West Nile Mosquitoes Of Year Found In Glenview, Morton Grove

Top photo via Shutterstock