Second Pool of West Nile Virus Mosquitos Found

The mosquito season is just getting started here in Boston.

After last week's announcement that mosquitos carrying West Nile Virus were found in Jamaica Plain, the Boston Public Health Commission announced this week that a second pool, this time in Hyde Park, also tested positive. 

Despite the presence of the virus in the area, there have been no recorded human cases of mosquito-borne illnesses in Boston this year. West Nile Virus is most commonly transmitted to humans by the bite of a mosquito infected with the virus, but it poses very low risk to most people, according to health officials. 

With the finding of the virus in Boston, the city has launched a spraying and larvicide program to control the mosquito population. The city has placed larvicide in catch basins and wetlands around the city, and targeted, truck-mounted aerosol spraying is also being performed to help control the mosquito population in certain areas of Boston. Spraying was recently conducted in Hyde Park, and it is scheduled to happen in East Boston on Thursday night. 

According to Dr. Alan Balsam of the Brookline Health Department, the virus hasn’t made it to Brookline yet.

“There have been 19 communities in the state that have reported it, but not Brookline. I expect it soon,” Balsam said. Balsam said that West Nile usually shows up around August.

The town has 3,500 catch basins loaded with larvicide. “We’ve been doing this for over ten years,” Balsam said. “I was very concerned back then, but it’s endemic now. We expect it every summer.”

The Health Department will be hanging out information on West Nile this week.