Connecticut State Department of Public Health

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           Connecticut Department of Public Health

November 5, 2008                                  Contact: William Gerrish

                                                               (860) 509-7270

 

                                                               CT Agricultural Experiment Station

                                                               Contact: Dr. Theodore Andreadis

                                                               (203) 974-8510 

 

Mosquitoes With WNV Discovered In Nearly Twice As Many Towns as 2007

 

Hartford – The State Mosquito Management Program today announced that statewide mosquito trapping and testing has concluded for the year and reported mosquitoes tested positive for the West Nile Virus in 26 cities and towns, nearly twice the number of communities from 2007.

 

“Due to the onset of cold weather, the risk of transmission of mosquito-borne diseases has passed,” said Department of Public Health Commissioner, J. Robert Galvin, MD, MPH, MBA.  “The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station will resume mosquito trapping and testing next June.”

 

To monitor West Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station maintains 91 trapping stations in 72 municipalities from June through October each year.  Mosquito traps are set every 10 days at each site on a rotating basis.  More than 211,000 mosquitoes were trapped and tested in 2008.

 

WNV MOSQUITO ACTIVITY

This season, WNV positive mosquitoes were identified from June 11 through October 7 at 34 locations in 26 municipalities – Branford, Bridgeport, Darien, East Haven, Fairfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hamden, Hartford, Hampton, Middlefield, Milford, Monroe, New Britain, New Canaan, New Haven, Norwalk, Shelton, South Windsor, Stamford, Stonington, Stratford, West Haven, Westport, Wethersfield, and Wilton. 

 

No mosquitoes tested positive for EEEV. In 2007, WNV-positive mosquitoes were found in 15 towns and EEEV-positive mosquitoes were identified in two towns.  The number of WNV-positive mosquitoes and the locations in which they are identified vary annually and can be attributed to many environmental factors including rainfall and temperatures from spring through fall. 

 

HUMAN WNV CASES

There were eight cases of WNV in Connecticut this season, with  seven patients contracting the virus  in state and reported the onset from mid-June through mid-September. The seventh person contracted WNV while out of the country. The infected individuals resided in:

  • Bridgeport (3)
  • Stamford (2)
  • Fairfield
  • Greenwich
  • Sherman 

There were four cases of WNV infections in 2007.  None of the infections this year or in 2007 were fatal.  There have been 69 human cases of WNV infection and three WNV-related fatalities in Connecticut since 2000.

 

NATIONAL WNV CASES

As of October 21, 2008, 1,141 human cases of WNV related illness and 25 fatalities were reported in 46 states.  WNV related illnesses reported in humans in the northeastern part of the United States included: New York (39), New Jersey (7), Pennsylvania (5), and Rhode Island (1).

 

The State of Connecticut Mosquito Management Program is an interagency program consisting of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Agriculture, and the University of Connecticut Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science.

 

Additional resources for information include:

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