West Nile Virus has been found in Christian County. Christian County joins 17 counties in Illinois that have been found to be West Nile Virus positive. No human cases have been found in the state, but some mosquitoes collected on July 11th, in the Mount Auburn Area had the virus in them.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, a county is considered positive for WNV when a mosquito, bird, horse, or human tests positive. Dr. Chad Anderson, Administrator for the Christian County Health Department says that if you have standing water in your yard, you should drain it, unless it’s a pond, in which case, they can send over a team to disinfect it.
Dr. Anderson says one of the reasons that this has occurred is the recent rains that we have had.
One thing to be aware of in your yard is any dead birds.
The Christian County Health Department says they will continue to monitor and test mosquitoes for WNV. If you have any questions regarding West Nile Virus, contact the Christian County Health Department at 217-824-4113.
