West Nile Virus detected in more mosquitos in Clark County after additional sampling

SPRINGFIELD — West Nile Virus has been detected in another set of trapped mosquitos in Clark County, as health officials say continued efforts are underway at limiting areas of infected bugs.

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The Clark County Combined Health District announced Thursday a sample collected in Springfield returned mosquitos with West Nile Virus, a health district spokesperson said in a media release. Earlier this week, the health district reported the first sample of the season to test positive and were found in the South Charleston area.

Treatment and control efforts are currently underway in the Springfield area, officials said. Health experts are inspecting areas and working with property owner to reduce breeding sources by draining stagnant water, misting impacted areas with Duet to reduce adult mosquito population, and distributing informational flyers in the area where infected mosquitos were found, the health district spokesperson said.

West Nile Virus is most commonly spread by infected mosquitos and can lead to severe fever, inflammation of the brain, or inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, the CCCHD spokesperson said.

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However, around 80 percent of people infected will not show any symptoms at all, but there is no way to know in advance if a person will develop an illness after a mosquito bite.

Some more severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis, the spokesperson said. Symptoms develop within three to 14 days of being bit by infected mosquito.

Lesser symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Those symptoms can last a few days or up to several weeks, the spokesperson said.

We’ll continue to update this story as we lean more.

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