Thursday, April 25, 2013
Local governments are preparing for the start of a new West Nile Virus season.
It's that time of the year again—mosquito season. Area governments are urging residents to take precautions to avoid West Nile Virus. Both Montgomery and Chester counties have already issued out a release offering residents tips and precautions on the virus. Last year, 60 human cases tested positive in Pennsylvania and four died, according to Pennsylvania's West Nile Virus Control Program. But good news comes to the Southeastern Pennsylvania area: $727,010 in grant money was acquired for West Nile surveillance and prevention this year for Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, and Bucks counties, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The state's West Nile Virus Surveillance and Control Program offers tips on how to prepare your home …
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Montgomery County Health Department is responding to evidence of West Nile virus-carrying adult mosquitoes.
The Montgomery County Health Department plans to spray chemicals Wednesday night in Bryn Mawr and Villanova to kill mosquitoes, a response to evidence that West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes have been in the area. The spraying will take place from about 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., to the northeast of Montgomery Avenue between Spring Mill Road and Roberts Road, the department announced Friday. If it must be postponed because of weather, it will take place Monday, Sept. 24. Residential streets will be sprayed; chemicals will not be sprayed on the Harriton High School campus. There have been several positive tests for West Nile virus in Lower Merion mosquitoes throughout the summer, though mostly in Wynnewood. No humans have been reported infected…
40.02623
-75.32194
N Roberts Rd & Montgomery Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA
/articles/mosquito-spraying-set-for-wednesday-in-bryn-mawr
/locations/7843071
40.04191
-75.33277
N Spring Mill Rd & Montgomery Ave, Villanova, PA
/articles/mosquito-spraying-set-for-wednesday-in-bryn-mawr
/locations/7843072
Monday, September 10, 2012
The 64-year-old Lafayette Hill resident became ill Aug. 19.
Update, 5 p.m. Monday: The patient is a 64-year-old woman from Lafayette Hill, Whitemarsh Township, according to Montgomery County spokesperson Frank Custer. No information has been released regarding her condition. *** State health officials on Monday reported Montgomery County's first human case of West Nile virus. The patient is a woman who became ill Aug. 19, said state DEP spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz. Citing privacy concerns, Kasianowitz declined to provide more information about the woman or where in Montgomery County she contracted the virus. Also unclear was the woman's medical condition. One of the 18 people to get West Nile virus in Pennsylvania this year, a Luzerne County man, has died. A Lancaster County human case also was …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Another mosquito tested positive for the virus in Wynnewood on Aug. 16.
A 10th case of West Nile Virus has been found in Lower Merion, according to recently released statistics from the PA West Nile Virus Program. The mosquito sample, collected near Shortridge and Remington Road in Wynnewood, tested positive for the virus on Aug. 16, according to Montgomery County communications officer Frank Custer. This case is the first positive case reported in Lower Merion since late July. On July 24, five positive mosquito samples were reported, and the Montgomery County Department of Health subsequently sprayed residential areas of Wynnewood for the second time this summer. The WNV-positive mosquito was discovered in an area of Wynnewood that had already been sprayed to kill the adult mosquito population. No positive …
Sunday, August 26, 2012
West Nile virus has been making headlines locally and nationally, so what does this mean for you? Should you be worried and how does this compare with other diseases?
West Nile virus made national news this week with an announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We're in the midst of one of the largest West Nile virus outbreaks ever seen in the United States,” said Dr. Lyle Petersen on Tuesday, who is the director of the Division of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases at the CDC. We are hearing more about West Nile virus and the cases of the virus being found on our doorstep. Each weekday, the Pennsylvania West Nile Control Program releases more positive test results of West Nile found in mosquitoes, bird and other animals. Within the recent weeks, they’ve been reporting human cases. Friday, the program reported a Philadelphian tested postive for the virus. That human case joins one…
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Number of cases this year highest on record since disease first detected in United States in 1999, federal officials say.
Despite warnings and sprayings in Lower Merion, Montgomery County and the country, this year's outbreak of West Nile Virus is the worst ever, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The number of cases so far this year is the highest recorded since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999, CNN is reporting. As of Aug. 21, 38 states had reported human infections. Two human cases were reported recently in Delaware County. The cases reported to the CDC total 1,118, including 41 deaths. Spraying for mosquitoes took place in Lower Merion Township about two weeks ago, as well as earlier in the summer. Nine mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile Virus in Wynnewood, Ardmore and Penn Wynne in July. No positive samples …
Thursday, August 16, 2012
So far this season, 75 mosquito pools have tested positive for West Nile Virus, compared to 31 positive pools during the same period last year.
On Thursday, the Montgomery County Health Department reminded residents, via a public health alert, to guard against West Nile Virus, a potentially serious illness. Four human cases of West Nile Virus have been found in Pennsylvania this year to date. Most recently, two men in an undisclosed part of Delaware County tested positive for the disease. No human cases have been reported in Lower Merion to date, and no West Nile Virus-positive mosquitoes or birds were listed in the Pennsylvania Department of Health's most recent report. Nine cases of West Nile Virus-positive mosquitoes have been reported in Lower Merion so far this year, however, all of them in Wynnewood, Penn Wynne and Ardmore. The Montgomery County Health Department recently …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Just days after the first two human cases of West Nile virus were reported, two new patients test positive and these men are from Delaware County.
Two men in Delaware County are hospitalized after testing positive for West Nile virus, according to the Pennsylvania West Nile Virus Control Program. The men, ages 55 and 62, are the third and fourth cases of human West Nile documented this summer. Health officials said that although anyone is at risk, older adults and those with compromised immune systems are most at risk. Last week, a woman from Franklin County and another woman from Lancaster County tested positive for the virus, according to the Pennsylvania West Nile Virus Control Program. State and county officials refused to say where in Delaware County the men are from, citing health information privacy, or HIPAA. “The surveillance program in Pennsylvania is showing higher numbers…
Monday, July 30, 2012
Five more mosquitoes have tested positive for the virus, in Wynnewood, Ardmore and Penn Wynne.
State officials on Monday reported five more positive cases of West Nile Virus in Lower Merion mosquitoes. To date, no human cases have been reported. State records show the affected mosquito trap was tested July 24. Three previous cases were found in Wynnewood and the fourth in Penn Wynne. According to Montgomery County Communications Director Frank Custer, the five mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile Virus on July 24 came from traps near: One of the positive cases found on July 24 came from a trap that was in the area sprayed by the Montgomery County Health Department on July 17 in an effort to kill the adult mosquito population in the area, Custer said. Montgomery County Health Department officials will meet with Lower Merion …
Monday, July 23, 2012
Beyond Lower Merion, positive samples have been found from Pottstown to Upper Moreland.
Mosquitos testing positive for West Nile Virus have now been found in 10 Montgomery County communities, including several instances in Lower Merion, as the virus heads into its prime time of the year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP said Monday that samples have also been found in Cheltenham, Plymouth and Upper Moreland townships, following positive findings in Abington, Conshohocken, Montgomery, Pottstown, Springfield and Whitemarsh earlier this month. "Montgomery County had a pretty high concentration of positives in early to mid-July," said DEP spokeswoman Amanda Witman. "As we progress through the summer, we're getting to the point where the propensity of the virus will begin to accelerate…
Liz Rosenbaum
4:18 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
A single bat will eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes and other insects AN HOUR at dawn and dusk. While spraying chemicals may be a necessary evil right now, building bat boxes to encourage their habitation would surely help in the long run! more ›