Mosquito tests positive for West Nile virus in Jim Wells County

• A mosquito tested positive in Jim Wells County for West Nile virus.
• The mosquito was from a sample collected on County Road 129 near Farm-to-Market 1554 on July 30, 2024.
• The county and City of Alice have partnered to spray around the county.
• Mosquito samples will be collected once again on Sunday to be tested.

A mosquito in Jim Wells County tested positive with the county's first West Nile Virus. The mosquito was in a sample pool collected on July 30, 2024.

County leaders said the recent rainfall is drawing more mosquitoes into more neighborhoods.

“We have to keep the public aware of the situation. We’re not here to cause an uproar. Trying to keep our residents safe and secure,” Jim Wells County Judge Pedro “Pete” Trevino Jr. said.

Trevino said the County’s Safety and Vector Officer Emede Gonzalez has been busy since they received the news.

Gonzalez and his department have been setting up control traps designed to lure mosquitoes several times a week. They are put out late in the afternoon and picked up first thing the following morning.

“We have this little tub with a mixture that attracts mosquitoes. We allow the mosquito to hover above the water and eventually it will get sucked into the netting. In this netting. And it’ll get trapped there,” JWC Safety and Vector Officer Emede Gonzalez said.

Those mosquitoes get collected, put into a container, and sent to Texas State Health Agency in Austin who will test the mosquitoes for several diseases.

Gonzalez said the county and the City of Alice have partnered in spraying the county, especially on County Road 129 and Farm-to-Market 1554 where the positive mosquitoes were collected.

“We’re hoping that this we be the end of it. Not only are we spraying, but we’re using larvicide,” Gonzalez said.

County officials said they have been testing 40 to 45 sites around the county. On Sunday, they hope to collect more samples to send for testing.

“This year, we got a little more aggressive since our neighboring counties - San Patricio, Nueces, Kleberg - have had positives. I’d like to remind the public that it’s just one mosquito that we have had,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he and his team will remain aggressive to help swat mosquitoes out of the county.

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