There still have not been any confirmed U.S. equine West Nile Virus cases in 2000. (August 17)

Connecticut

Yesterday, the State of Connecticut Mosquito Management Program announced a positive isolation of West Nile Virus (WNV) in bird-biting mosquitoes collected from Norwalk. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) has isolated the presence of WNV from mosquitoes collected on August 7, 2000 at Cranbury Park in Norwalk. The pool of mosquitoes that tested positive was Culex restuans, a bird-biting mosquito. In addition to the positive mosquito pool, three additional crows have tested positive for WNV. See Connecticut Test Results for Mosquitoes/Birds page for more detailed information.

Connecticut’s Mosquito EEE Contingency Plan, WNV Surveillance and Response Plan, and the following fact sheets, West Nile Virus: Human Infection; Mosquito Protection: People, Property and Pets; Personal Protection Against Mosquitoes: Using DEET; and Pesticides and Mosquito Control: Using Scourge are available on DEP’s web site: www. dep.state.ct.us, which can also be accessed through any of these other web sites: DPH’s at www.state.ct.us/dph, CAES’s at www.state.ct.us/caes. DEP also maintains a 24-hour information line at 860/424-4184 that is updated weekly with the latest mosquito and bird testing results.

Mosquito testing for WNV and EEE virus is performed at CAES. The results of mosquito testing is available on a weekly basis. Mosquito traps are placed in 73 locations throughout the state by The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) and will be collected on a ten-day rotation