First Positive West Nile Virus test in Ashland County- A pool of mosquitoes from a trap near Cahn Grove Park in the City of Ash

August 10, 2017:

Ashland County-City Health Department, Ashland, OH – A pool of mosquitoes from a trap near Cahn Grove Park in the City of Ashland recently tested positive for West Nile Virus, according to an Ohio Department of Health report received August 9.

This is the first positive test in Ashland County this season.

The health department sets gravid and sentinel traps throughout the county each week in order to monitor the mosquito population and to identify West Nile Virus.  The City of Ashland as well as other Ashland County villages also perform mosquito fogging as well as use larvicidal dunks to reduce the number of mosquitoes.

Preventative measures to protect yourself from WNV and other mosquito-borne diseases include:

• Wear insect repellant containing DEET (follow package directions)
• Limit outdoor activity at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active
• Mosquitoes breed in small amounts of water so empty all standing water around your home (like in planters, containers, pet dishes, bird baths, tires etc.)

For more information on mosquitoes and West Nile Virus, visit www.ashlandhealth.com or the Ashland County-City Health Department Facebook page.   Residents can also call (419)282-4337 to obtain larvicidal dunks for standing water that cannot be emptied on their property.