The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has found West Nile virus in mosquitoes from Sandwich.
Gabrielle Sakolsky, the assistant superintendent and entomologist of the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project, said that the mosquito sample was taken from the Sandwich section of Joint Base Cape Cod on Friday, September 14.
The sample consisted of 22 mosquitoes, but Ms. Sarkosky said that it is not possible to know exactly how many mosquitoes from the sample tested positive.
The finding makes Sandwich one of six Cape Cod towns where West Nile virus has been confirmed in mosquitoes. The other towns are Bourne, Falmouth, Dennis, Yarmouth, and Barnstable. However, Ms. Sarkosky said that just because an infected mosquito has not been found in a given town does not mean that it is not there.
“We have to assume that it is in all of the towns since mosquitoes fly,” she said.
The risk of contracting the disease from mosquitoes on the Cape is currently listed as being moderate. The only area with a high risk in Massachusetts is Boston.
Across the state, 14 people have been diagnosed with the illness this year. None of those diagnoses have come from Barnstable County.
Most people who contract the virus do not display any symptoms and less than one percent of people who do become infected will become seriously ill.
If people do display symptoms, they can include fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, swollen lymph glands, and a rash on the torso.
Symptoms of serious illness include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsion, muscle weakness, vision, loss, numbness, and paralysis.
The Sandwich Health Department advises residents to take precautions against getting bitten by mosquitoes.
These precautions can include using an insect repellent with DEET and avoiding outdoor activities between dusk and dawn, which is when mosquitoes are the most active.
Where the Cape has recently had some rain, Ms. Sarkosky advised residents to empty any containers in their yards that contain standing water since the species of mosquito that is coming back as infected lays eggs in man-made containers.
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