They’re back.
The North Shore Mosquito Abatement District has found West Nile virus positive mosquitoes in traps around the north suburbs in recent weeks.
As a result, officials in Evanston, Wilmette, Skokie, Kenilworth, Northfield, Glenview and other towns are advising residents to take precautions to avoid contracting the disease.
A batch of mosquitoes collected July 12 from a North Shore Mosquito Abatement District trap in Evanston tested positive for West Nile virus. Mosquitoes in Skokie and other suburbs have also tested positive for West Nile in recent weeks, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Ike Ogbo, director of the Health and Human Services Department in Evanston, said this summer’s hot and rainy weather conditions are perfect for mosquitoes to breed in.
“These are favorable conditions for the mosquitoes in order for them to amplify and transmit this disease,” he said.
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In Illinois, West Nile virus was first identified in Sept. 2001 in the Chicago area, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health website. The following year, the state’s first human cases and deaths from the disease were recorded.
The state maintains a sophisticated disease surveillance system to monitor animals and insects that can potentially carry the virus including dead crows, robins, blue jays, mosquitoes and horses. The surveillance system also includes infectious disease physicians, hospital laboratory directors and infection control practitioners, local health departments and staff from IDPH, according to the website.
Bruce Jones, environmental health supervisor with the village of Skokie, said that while there has been flooding due to heavy rain this summer, the Culex mosquitoes that typically spread the virus are not the same as “flood mosquitoes,” which typically do not spread the virus.
“This time of year we try to educate people to make sure they’re doing everything possible to limit their exposure,” he said.
Jones said that includes using insect repellent, wearing loose fitting clothing, avoiding peak mosquito feeding times during the hours around dawn and dusk and eliminating items that can hold even a small amount of water, like tires, toys and particularly smaller items that may be easily overlooked.
“If It Can Hold Water, It Can Breed Mosquitoes!” according to The North Shore Mosquito Abatement District, which issues a weekly report on its testing results.
“This time of year we try to educate people to make sure they’re doing everything possible to limit their exposure,” said Ogbo.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter.