New In This Update

• The season's first WNV-positive mosquito pool, collected May 25 in Edison, Middlesex County, has been confirmed.

Crow, Hawk & Falcon Testing

• To date, 141 crows and 1 hawk have been tested by the Department of Health and Senior Services' Public Health and Environmental Laboratory. Of those tested, 12 crows found in Bergen, Middlesex and Monmouth Counties have been confirmed positive for the presence of the West Nile virus (WNV).

Mosquito Testing

• One mosquito pool collected in Edison, Middlesex County, on May 25, has tested positive for the presence of WNV. In total, 137 mosquito pools have been tested.

Additional Information & Advisories

• New Jersey residents can take personal precautions to minimize their WNV exposure risk. Such measures include spraying insect repellent on their clothing and exposed skin in accordance with labeling directions and wearing long sleeved shirts and pants when outdoors. Residents can also curb outdoor activities at dawn, dusk and during the evening. Residents should also eliminate standing water on their own property that can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Windows screens should also be used and kept in good repair.

• The West Nile virus, an arboviral disease, is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. WNV is not directly transmitted from birds to humans or from person to person. WNV infection generally causes no symptoms or just mild, flu-like symptoms; however, the elderly are at higher risk of more severe disease.

• In 2000, a total of six New Jersey residents became ill and one died due to WNV infection. The virus was also detected in mosquitoes, horses, crows and other birds in 20 of the state's 21 counties. The virus was detected for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in September 1999, in birds found in New York City and Westchester County.

• New Jersey's WNV surveillance, control and prevention activities involve the coordinated efforts of a number of federal, state and local agencies. These include the New Jersey Departments of Health and Senior Services, Environmental Protection, and Agriculture, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the State Mosquito Control Commission, the Rutgers Mosquito Research and Control Unit, and local health and mosquito control agencies.