KAYSVILLE—Every summer the West Nile virus seems to crop up somewhere in Utah and now it’s in Davis County. Last week, Davis Mosquito Abatement found the first positive case of West Nile in a pool of water in west Kaysville. 

“We set traps at 30 locations a week,” said Davis Mosquito Abatement District Manager Gary Hatch. “We collect them and count and speciate them. We’ve tested 1,100 pools and last week we detected the first positive case.”

There are two types of mosquitoes that they look for, the Culex pipiens and Culex tarsalis, he said. “The Culex pipiens or house mosquito’s habitat is in small containers of water like kiddie pools, catch basins, curb and gutter, small ditches around the house and in smaller water bodies. They’re non aggressive biters. They don’t readily bite people, they typically bite birds but they come in at night and buzz around and are obnoxious but they will bite.”

The Culex tarsalis breed in permanent or semi permanent water sources, said Hatch. “They’re all over the marshes and a flooded pasture. The Culex tarsalis is what we found in a pool in west Kaysville.”

Hatch said they set 12 traps seven days a week May through September. “We set an additional 24 traps one night a week throughout the county. We knock the mosquitos down, put them into tubes and test them in house. We sort out into tubes those that are tested.”

Any cases of West Nile are reported to the Davis County Health Department. “We turn it over to them to let the public know,” said Hatch. 

Mosquitos bite from dusk to dawn, when the sun goes down and when the sun comes up, he said. “If you’re going to be out, put on repellent and if you can, wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt.”

To avoid mosquitos, empty any standing water around the house, said Hatch. “Bird baths should be changed every seven to 10 days. Put mosquito eating fish in ornamental ponds. Part of our service is to come out and do that for you just call us.”

Hatch also recommends making sure there are good screens on windows. “People like to sleep with the windows open but they’ll readily come in the house and bite you at night. Be careful with in and out traffic through the door at night too. They congregate around lights and can come inside so you want to minimize that.”

Although West Nile was found, not all species carry it, he said. “We tested 1,100 pools and this was the first case we detected. About 20,000 mosquitoes have been tested so far. Just because you get bit doesn’t mean it carries it.”

West Nile causes flu-like symptoms, said Hatch. “A severe headache, stiff neck, body aches. It’s hard to tell with COVID now but you don’t have a runny nose or cough like COVID.”

It can be serious in seniors or the immunocompromised population, he said. “Children generally go through West Nile better than adults do.”

Hatch said they’re out doing extra spraying where the virus was detected. “We’re taking precautions to get as much spraying as we can. We spray five nights a week, with six to seven trucks going out at night, especially where the mosquito population is. Not only on the westside but we’re covering even farther up east. We’re trying to get them knocked down to prevent disease.” λ