West Nile Virus: Rose Valley Mosquito Tests Positive

West Nile virus has made its first appearance in the Media Patch area for the 2013 season.

A mosquito in a Rose Valley borough sample taken by monitoring efforts by the Pennsylvania’s West Nile Virus Control Program tested positive for West Nile virus.

In 2012, 3,410 mosquitoes, 135 birds and 60 humans tested positive for West Nile virus. Four of the men died, one in Berks County, two in Philadelphia and one in Luzerne County.

Here are tips from the West Nile Virus Control Program on getting rid of mosquitoes near your home:

• Dispose of tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots or similar water-holding containers that have collected on your property.
• Pay special attention to discarded tires. Stagnant water in tires are where most mosquitoes breed.
• Drill holes in the bottom of recycling containers left outdoors.
• Have clogged roof gutters cleaned every year, particularly if the leaves from surrounding trees have a tendency to plug up the drains. Roof gutters can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.
• Turn over plastic wading pools when not in use. Stagnant water in a wading pool becomes a place for mosquitoes to breed.
• Turn over wheelbarrows and don't let water stagnate in birdbaths. Both provide breeding habitats for domestic mosquitoes.
  
• Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. Water gardens can become major mosquito producers if they are allowed to stagnate. Clean and chlorinate swimming pools not in use. A swimming pool left untended by a family on vacation for a month can produce enough mosquitoes to result in neighborhood-wide complaints. Mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on pool covers.