Onondaga County Health Commissioner, Indu Gupta MD, MPH, announced today that the New York State Health Department laboratory has reported finding evidence of West Nile virus (WNV) in Onondaga County. The finding was in a mosquito pool collected on June 30th from a mosquito trap located on Island Road in the Town of Cicero. This is the first finding of West Nile virus in Onondaga County this year. There have been no human cases of West Nile virus reported in Onondaga County this year. On July 4th, the Health Department reported finding evidence of Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV) in a mosquito pool in the Cicero Swamp area.  Gupta reinforced, “We now know definitively that WNV and EEEV are in our environment, therefore, it is extremely important for residents to take measures to avoid being bitten by mosquitos and to eliminate standing water from their property.”

The Onondaga County Health Department originally planned on conducting aerial spraying today of the Cicero Swamp and immediate surrounding areas, but due to unfavorable weather conditions,  the spraying has been postponed until tomorrow, Wednesday, July 8, 2015 between the hours 7:30-10:00 pm, weather permitting.

For information about personal protection measures contact the Onondaga County Health Department, Division of Environmental Health at 435-1649 and visit /health/mosquitoborne.html.