West Nile Virus Detected For First Time On Cape Cod This Year

FALMOUTH, MA — Cape Cod has registered its first case of West Nile Virus in 2025, officials announced.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) announced recently that West Nile Virus (WNV) has been detected in a mosquito sample collected from Falmouth on June 24 at a sampling location in the vicinity of Woods Hole Road.

The Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project collects routine mosquito samples as part of MDPH’s surveillance program for mosquito-borne diseases. The last positive WNV mosquito sample detected in Falmouth was in 2024. No human cases have been detected.

The Falmouth Health Department will continue to work closely with the MDPH and the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project (CCMCP) on mosquito control efforts, officials said.

The location of the positive sample is routinely treated by the CCMCP and will continue to be an area of focus throughout the mosquito season, they added.

A Central Massachusetts town became the first place in the state to have a mosquito sample test positive for West Nile virus.

The state Department of Public Health said that WNV was detected in a sample collected in Shrewsbury in Worcester County late last week.

"Mid-June is earlier than we typically first find West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes in Massachusetts," Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said. "WNV activity is very difficult to predict in advance, which is why the mosquito surveillance system is so important.