Sept. 2024 - The Farmington Valley Health District is urging community members to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites. The Department of Public Health has now detected Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), confirmed in a number of human biting mosquitoes at the mosquito surveillance site located in Farmington, CT. While unusual, this detection indicates risk for EEE in the area and we are urging personal protection. Some of the mosquito traps at the surveillance site contained mosquito species that are known to bite humans. EEE is a rare but serious disease caused by a virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Historically, the virus has been found in trapped mosquitoes in Connecticut, but there are no human cases reported at this time.
Aug. 2024 - The Farmington Valley Health District is urging community members to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites. The Department of Public Health has detected West Nile Virus in the mosquito surveillance site located in Farmington, CT. The last positive mosquito identified from this site was in 2021.
While risk remains low, the FVHD has advised a few ways to take precautions to keep yourself safe from mosquitoes:
- Minimize time spent outdoors between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
- Consider the use of mosquito repellents containing an EPA-registered active ingredient, including DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-methane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone, when it is necessary to be outdoors.
- Wear shoes, socks, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt when outdoors for long periods of time, or when mosquitoes are more active. Clothing should be light-colored, loose-fitting, and made of tightly woven materials that keep mosquitoes away from the skin.
- Be sure door and window screens are tight-fitting and in good repair.
- Use mosquito netting when sleeping outdoors or in an unscreened structure and to protect infants when outdoors.
For more information, please click here to view the press release about West Nile Virus from the Farmington Valley Health District.
Please click here to view the press release about Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) from the Farmington Valley Health District.