[symple_googlemap title=”” location=”Varner Rd., Cook St., Thousand Palms ” height=”300″ zoom=”15″]
Mosquitoes collected in Thousand Palms east of Palm Springs tested positive for West Nile virus, local vector control officials said Monday.
The winter’s wet weather and recent warm temperatures make Southern California something of an ideal breeding ground for the potentially dangerous critters, and they could spread throughout the region well beyond the desert resort areas toward Los Angeles, according to officials.
The positive test result came from a sample of about 30 mosquitoes from a trap located on Varner Road between Cook Street and Monterey Avenue, according to the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District.
Though it’s the first positive test among mosquitoes so far this year in California, the California Department of Public Health last week reported the first human case of the virus in Kings County, just north of Kern County.
CVMVCD officials say the virus is expected to be active regionally throughout the summer.
“The wet winter and warm temperatures produced more mosquitoes than we usually have at this time of year, so it is not surprising to see virus activity,” said Jennifer Henke, CVMVCD laboratory manager. “This means that the virus will be active in the Valley for a long period this summer, which puts people at an increased risk of getting sick.”
Vector control officials will be posting disease notification signs in communities near the trap locations and will install more traps.
Larval and adult control operations will also be conducted in the surrounding area to reduce the number of mosquitoes and half any further transmission of the virus, according to CVMVCD.
West Nile virus is transmitted to humans via the bite of infected mosquitoes, which become infected when feeding on birds carrying the virus.
Most who are infected with the virus will not experience any illness. Others may have flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache and body aches. In severe cases, people will need to be hospitalized, and rare cases can be fatal.
Young children, the elderly and those with lowered immune symptoms are at greater risk for severe symptoms upon infection.