A mosquito, testing positive for the West Nile Virus, was detected last week in Haverhill by state officials.
The Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences at the state Department of Public Health found the common mosquito in a pool sample collected Monday, July 24. While the state did not initially identify the test location, Mayor James J. Fiorentini reported it was collected in a trap on Primrose Street.
Haverhill is the only community in Essex County where the virus has been detected this season. Despite the finding, Haverhill was still ranked at “low” risk as of Friday. The city still advises residents to take such precautions as wearing protective clothing, using insect spray, staying indoors when mosquitoes are most active dusk to dawn, avoid perfumes, keep properties dry and free from standing water and to close windows.
Fiorentini reported the Northeast Massachusetts Mosquito Control and Wetlands Management District will be setting supplemental traps to collect more mosquitos and providing additional larvicide treatments of stagnant water sites and containers around the location.