A second mosquito in Edgartown this summer has tested positive for West Nile virus, according to the town’s board of health.
The mosquito was collected and sampled on Wednesday, Sept. 4, from an Edgartown town cemetery as a part of ongoing weekly surveillance.
This is the second detection of the virus in Edgartown this summer, with the first positive sample recorded on July 12. The town’s health board is urging residents to take precautions, especially during peak mosquito activity from dusk until dawn. The board also recommends wearing long sleeves, using insect repellent, and eliminating standing water around homes to reduce mosquito breeding sites.
West Nile virus can cause fever, headache, body aches, and more severe symptoms in rare cases. The elderly are at a higher risk of severe infection.
There are no current vaccines for the disease; only through mosquito prevention can the virus be avoided.
Studies show that warmer temperatures
associated with climate change can
accelerate mosquito development,
biting rates, and the incubation of
the disease within a mosquito.
The effect of climate change on
the timing of bird migration and
breeding patterns may also
contribute to changes in long-range
virus movement.
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-west-nile-virus#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20warmer%20temperatures,the%20disease%20within%20a%20mosquito.&text=The%20effect%20of%20climate%20change,in%20long%2Drange%20virus%20movement.
The lone star ticks which are taking over the island and their associated disease as well as the diseases already frequently transmitted here by the other ticks are far more a greater threat to health and quality of life in the island. Almost to a point that the ink that this article was printed with isn’t even worth it. The island needs to be taking immediate steps to deal with the ticks weather it be spraying, culling the deer or using sophisticated traps. If the taxes, the defunct ferry system, the huge wildfire risk, or the lack of workforce housing isn’t the spark that will begin the decent of the island into our own island recession, the ticks will be.
The ultra wealthy and their poorer plain old wealthy cousins don’t want to get Alpha Gal Syndrome and probably don’t give two thoughts to West Nile Virus.
I would not buy a home here today, knowing what I know now about the ticks. The threat is far less on the Cape, South Coast Mass, or coastal RI or CT and no ferry to futz with.
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