West Nile virus detected in Dallas County mosquitoes
DALLAS - We are less than a month into summer and West Nile Virus is already surging around North Texas.
There is active monitoring across the area and Dallas County is one of the hot spots.
The Dallas County Health and Human Services Laboratory has confirmed that several mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile Virus in various cities throughout Dallas County.
The mosquito samples were collected from zip codes in Balch Springs, Sachse and Sunnyvale.
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In response, mosquito abatement teams are treating affected areas.
Spraying was done yesterday and will happen again on Wednesday, weather permitting, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Thursday.
Residents are asked to stay inside while sprayers are in the area.
FILE - Female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from its human host, 2006. Image courtesy Centers for Disease Control (CDC) / James Gathany. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
"We're definitely watching it very closely. We've had a lot of positive pools throughout Dallas County, which has definitely been concerning. Fortunately, we have not had any human cases, thus far. But it's definitely something that we're watching. There's also something called a vector index that we monitor. Thus far, it has not reached the level, where we've had a really bad season," said Dr. Philip Huang with Dallas County Health and Human Services.
To protect yourself, Dr. Huang says to wear long pants or long-sleeve shirts if you are going to be out at dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
If it's simply too hot, he says to use insect repellent that includes Deet and drain anything around the house that might contain water where mosquitoes breed.
Dr. Huang says it only takes a teaspoon of water for mosquitoes to breed and oftentimes, people don't know they have been infected.