Mosquito sample in Boston contains West Nile Virus
Published: August 13, 2009
BOSTON—State health officials say a mosquito sample in Boston is the city’s first to test positive for West Nile Virus this year.
The Department of Public Health says Thursday West Nile was found in a mosquito pool in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood.
The state’s first positive test of the season was found in Walpole in July.
Officials also have found several cases of Eastern equine encephalitis in southeastern Massachusetts.
There have been no human cases of West Nile Virus or EEE this year.
Massachusetts has recorded 16 cases of West Nile Virus in humans during the last five years.
About one in five infected people get sick and about one in 150 develop severe symptoms including neck stiffness, disorientation, coma and paralysis.
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