West Nile virus found in Saugus mosquito pool

SAUGUS – Saugus Public Health Director Frank Giacalone said residents shouldn?t be alarmed after a mosquito pool in Saugus tested positive for the West Nile virus Friday.?(The Northeast Mosquito Control) has traps set out in several areas in Saugus, but this one was found by the (Riverside Cemetery), by the river there,” said Giacalone on Monday. “This is the first one we?ve had this year. It?s not uncommon, unfortunately, because we know West Nile is out there. Through the years they?ve found that it?s actually moving from the north in New Hampshire down to us.”Giacalone said the Northeast Mosquito Control conducted targeted truck-spraying Monday night and early this morning between 8:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. around the Hamilton and Winter Street areas, and around Central Street near the Waybright Elementary School and the Belmonte Middle School.Fields in the area were not sprayed, according to Giacalone, who said the spray chemical used is a “very, very low dose” and is not harmful to adults or children.?People can be outside, but it?s recommended that if they?re indoors to close their windows,” he said. “There really is no health hazard. Some people just don?t like the mist and whatnot so we recommend people close their windows.”Giacalone said Revere, Lynn, Winthrop, Malden and Melrose have also tested positive for West Nile.About 80 percent of people who are infected with West Nile will not show any symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention West Nile fact sheet.However, the CDC says about one in 150 people infected with the West Nile virus will develop a severe illness with symptoms that include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. These symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent, according to the website.Up to 20 percent of the people who become infected have moderate symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back, according to the website. Symptoms can last for as short as a few days or up to several weeks, according to the CDC.Jack Card, of the Northeast Mosquito Control and Wetlands Management District, said West Nile-carrying mosquitoes thrive in drought conditions because they breed in areas that collect standing water and aren?t necessarily wet year round.?The mosquitoes that are the major player like man-made things,” said Card. “They?re not really a natural swamp mosquito. It?s more of a container mosquito like in gutters, bird baths, kid pools and things like that. When you have a dry year, those are the only things that have water in them and the swamps sort of dry up.”The Northeast Mosquito Control conducts testing and spraying for cities and towns in Essex County and falls under the control of the State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board, which is in the Department of Agricultural Resources.Card said they use a “New Jersey trap” to collect mosquitoes which gives out a small amount of carbon dioxide that attracts them and then draws them in with a fan. Card said female mosquitoes that have already had a “blood meal” are the ones primarily tested for West Nile. Traps are tested twice a week, he said.Giacalone said eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, is not as common and is not as big a concern for the area.?For us, West Nile is the biggest concern out of the two,” said Giacalone. “We in Saugus have had positive tests before (of West Nile). I know last year we had two or three. What we did was do target spraying then the third time we did town-wide spraying.”Giacalone said residents should take precautions when outside like wearing insect repellent and long-sleeved clothing.To prevent mosquito breeding, Giacalone said residents should make sure there?s no standing water in old tires and to clean out gutters.?Residents need to be aware to not have anythin