The Kane County Health Department has collected its first positive West Nile virys traps. A batch of mosquitoes in Montgomery and a batch of mosquitoes in Aurora tested positive for the disease.

These are the first two traps that tested positive this year that were collected by the Health Department. Previously, a crow collect on May 19 in Campton Township had tested positive for the disease. Also earlier this week, the Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed in a press release the first positive human case of West Nile Virus that was reported by the Chicago Department of Public Health.

You can view more detailed monitoring results from this and previous years by visiting the Kane County Health Department’s West Nile page.

West Nile virus is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. Most people with the virus have no clinical symptoms of illness, but some may become ill three to 14 days after the bite of an infected mosquito.

Only about two persons out of 10 who are bitten by an infected mosquito will experience any illness. Illness from West Nile is usually mild and includes fever, headache and body aches, but serious illness, such as encephalitis and meningitis, and death are possible. Persons older than 50 years of age have the highest risk of severe disease.

Additional information about West Nile virus can be found on the Kane County Health Department’s website. You can also visit the Illinois Department of  Public Health’s website. People also can call the IDPH West Nile Virus Hotline at (866) 369-9710 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

SOURCE: Kane County Health Department