Mosquitos test positive for West Nile in Will Co. towns
Sun-Times Media July 27, 2012 7:10PM
Updated: July 27, 2012 7:41PM
JOLIET - Mosquito samples taken from several Will County communities have tested positive for West Nile Virus, according to officials with the Will County Health Department.
The samples came from Joliet, Shorewood, Bolingbrook and Frankfort and were collected on Tuesday, the health department said in a statement.
A total of six mosquito samples taken within Will County have tested positive for the virus so far this summer, the statement said. A blue jay taken from Wilmington and a robin from Plainfield also tested positive.
In 2011, the county recorded a total of 24 mosquito batches and one bird that tested positive for West Nile, said Will County Health Department spokesman Vic Reato, who added that a man in his 80s who lives in the eastern region of the county also tested positive for the virus.
In a release, the department noted that a majority of the state’s positive samples come from the Chicago region, with about 84 percent coming from Cook and DuPage counties.
The Cook County Department of Public Health on Wednesday announced the first reported human cases of West Nile Virus in the state this year.
The two women, both in their 60s, live in the northwest suburbs and were hospitalized, according to a department spokeswoman.
