West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes collected last week in Corunna, Lambton Public Health says.
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It’s the first time the virus has been detected this year in the health unit’s mosquito surveillance efforts. No human cases have been confirmed this year in Lambton County, the agency said.
Mosquitoes collected Aug. 14 from a trap in Corunna tested positive for the virus.
Three human cases of the virus have been reported this year across Ontario, as well as 94 positive mosquito pools, according to Public Health Ontario.
West Nile spreads to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes, but most infected individuals do not get sick, Lambton Public Health said.
Those who do become ill usually experience mild flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, skin rash or muscle aches, it said. Fewer than one per hundred of those infected become seriously ill.
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First detected in Uganda, West Nile virus was found in New York in 1999 and spread throughout North America.
Canada’s first case of the virus was detected that year, and it has been detected consistently in Lambton County since 2006.
Lambton Public Health has said one human case of West Nile was confirmed locally in 2023, and there have been six lab-confirmed local human cases since 2016.
Earlier this summer, the county began setting out traps weekly around Lambton to check for infected mosquitoes. Last year, mosquitoes trapped in Forest, Wyoming, Corunna and Sarnia tested positive for the virus.
The agency recommends reducing the risk of mosquito bites by taking precautions, such as wearing protective and light-colored clothing, and using repellents containing DEET or lcaridin, from dusk to dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
Residents also can reduce mosquito breeding areas by draining standing or stagnant water on their properties by removing old tires, emptying pails, toys and wheelbarrows, changing water in bird baths weekly and clearing trapped water from eavestroughs, the agency said.
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