West Nile Virus

For the first time since comprehensive testing began last year, a mosquito has tested positive for the West Nile virus in Washington County. The infected mosquito was trapped and tested about two weeks ago on the C&O Canal near Williamsport, said Laurie Bucher, environmental health officer at the Washington County Health Department. "It's like finding a needle in a haystack. There are a lot of mosquitoes this year with the wet weather," she said. The Maryland Department of Agriculture, which helps conducts the tests, estimates that fewer than one in 1,000 mosquitoes is infected, entomologist Michael Cantwell said.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com A Berkeley County resident has the first confirmed case of West Nile virus in the state, but health officials said there is no need to panic. "It is not contagious person-to-person. You have to be bitten by the mosquito," said Sandra LeMaster, nurse director for clinical services at the Berkeley County Health Department. Citing privacy concerns, LeMaster would not give the person's name, age or gender. She said she was not sure of the prognosis or whether the person is in a hospital, because she had not spoken to the person's doctor Friday.

charlestown@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A crow found in a nearby subdivision has tested positive for the West Nile virus, making Berkeley County the third county in the Eastern Panhandle to show presence of the virus, health officials said Tuesday. The crow was found about two weeks ago by a property owner in the Equestrian Center subdivision, which is off Whitings Neck Road in the northern part of Berkeley County, said Jim Barnhart, a sanitarian for the Berkeley County Health Department.

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A crow found in the Kearneysville, W.Va., area July 31 tested positive for West Nile virus, prompting health officials to re-emphasize the need for people to take precautions against the disease. The crow was found by a person at a Kearneysville-area business, said Judi Rice, sanitarian supervisor for the Jefferson County Health Department. The bird was sent to the University of Georgia where it tested positive for West Nile virus, Rice said.

scottb@herald-mail.com Mosquitoes, some possibly carrying the West Nile virus, have become active again in Washington County in recent weeks, Laurie Bucher, director of the Washington County Health Department's environmental health division, said Wednesday. To protect themselves from West Nile virus, Bucher encouraged local residents to take precautionary measures, such as wearing insect repellent and getting rid of standing water, which can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

katec@herald-mail.com Spring has been reluctant to stick around this year, but it can't be long before chilly temperatures make a final exit. Warmer weather will bring many pleasures and a few nuisances - mosquitoes among them. Besides an annoying itch, a bite from an infected mosquito can cause infection with the West Nile virus. The disease first was recognized in the United States in 1999 in New York City, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention's Web site at www.cdc.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Although Franklin County is just two weeks into spring, Ernest Tarner already is thinking about mosquitoes and the West Nile virus they may carry this summer. Tarner, manager of the Franklin County Conservation District, said he was recently notified that the county would receive $53,500 in state funding for mosquito surveillance programs. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has awarded counties across the state thousands of dollars since the virus was first identified in New York in 1999.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com Franklin County's first killing frost will do what man has been unable to - drive away the mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus. The disease has been responsible for the deaths of six Pennsylvania residents - none from Franklin or Fulton counties - and dozens of horses statewide. The dead horses include two in Franklin County that have died since September, said Nan Hanshaw-Roberts, a veterinarian in the state Department of Agriculture.

scottb@herald-mail.com A 67-year-old woman has become the first Washington County resident to test positive for West Nile virus, county Health Officer William Christoffel said Tuesday. The woman, whose name was not released, did not require hospitalization and is recovering, Christoffel said. Christoffel said the woman was tested for the virus in September after telling a doctor she was experiencing flu-like symptoms including weakness and aches in her leg. Preliminary test results indicated the woman had the mosquito-borne virus but final test results were not made public until Tuesday when the information was listed on the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Internet pages.

andrear@herald-mail.com As the death toll from the mosquito-borne West Nile virus continues to climb nationwide, health officials urge people to continue taking precautions against mosquitoes until colder weather arrives. The first hard freeze will make dormant the West Nile-infected mosquitoes that spread the virus by biting humans, animals and birds, Washington County Health Officer William Christoffel said. There is no evidence to suggest West Nile can be spread from person to person or from animal to person, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.