Community Corner

Montville Mosquitoes Test Positive for West Nile Virus

Montville health official said residents can control mosquito populations living in their own yards.

Bug bites can be annoying, but bug bites that come with flu-like symptoms can be even worse.

The Health Department's mosquito commission has confirmed that a mosquito pool taken from the township has tested positive for West Nile Virus, Montville Township Health Officer John A. Wozniak Jr. said. But Wozniak said West Nile Virus has become common the past several years in mosquitoes throughout the state.

According to Wozniak, about 4,954 mosquito pools in New Jersey have been tested and West Nile Virus has been identified in at least 21 counties so far this year. Morris County is one of them and, specifically, mosquitoes pooled from the John Street Park and , both in Montville, tested positive.

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"It's not that this is anything unusual," Wozniak said. "We know that West Nile Virus is here and it's going to be here. It's not going away."

The symptoms of West Nile Virus can be mildly flu-like, Wozniak said. "Symptoms of the more severe disease can include severe headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis. The elderly are at higher risk of the more severe disease," according to the Montville Township website. Death is a potential result of the disease, although mostly with compromised populations, Wozniak said.

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Wozniak said a person who is bitten by a mosquito carrying the disease would only be able to tell the difference from being bitten by one that does not carry the diease if they develop the side effects. Some people who contract the disease do not ever show symptoms at all, Wozniak said.

"Healthy adults who get it might not even know it," he said.

If a person does see symptoms, Wozniak encouraged them to visit a doctor.

"After you're bitten, if it was with an infected mosquito, if you're showing symptoms, get a blood test," he said.

Wozniak said mosquito problems are typically close to home and people do not realize they are often getting bitten near where they live.

"When people are complaining about mosquitoes, in most cases, they're generating their own mosquitoes on their own property," he said.

But there are a few simple ways residents can prevent the mosquito population from growing at their home. First, Wozniak said residents should be conscious of excess water in their yards, particularly on top of buckets (even overturned), in yard toys and anything else that can collect pools of water.

"You want to look around your property," he said. "You may have a wheelbarrow that's just sitting there that's collecting water. If you don't drain that, the potential for mosquitoes can increase."

Wozniak also said bird baths should be drained every other day to get rid of any mosquito larvae in the water.

The Morris County Mosquito Commission has also been working to control mosquito breeding in some locations in the township, Wozniak said. Wozniak praised the commission for their hard work in helping to control the mosquito population in Montville.

For more information about the mosquitoes in Montville or mosquitoes in general, check out the Montville Township Health Department's page on the township website.


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