How Berkshire County is fighting the West Nile Virus

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (NEWS10) -- Berkshire County is battling mosquitos once again, but officials said this season may be more unique. The Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project crew has been hard at work all season.

The team drove around to different areas of the county, dropping pouches into the standing water. Chris Horton, the superintendent of the Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project, said there are over 7,000 sites for these pouches to go. The goal is to stop the spread of the West Nile Virus.

“There’s a bacteria on that, that the mosquitos will eat and it’ll give the mosquito an intestinal disruption” Horton said.

This summer, four mosquitos have tested positive for the West Nile Virus in Berkshire County. The Pittsfield Health Department informed the public of the latest case this past Friday.

Chris said that this summer's warmer temperatures and the river valley environment, create a perfect habitat for the virus.

“Especially the mosquitos we’re looking at for West Nile, they did very well this year because they take advantage of containers, tire, boat, something that’s holding water and they can develop really rapidly in that hot environment," Chris said.

However, so far, there are no human West Nile virus cases in Berkshire County. Chris said his team is working to maintain this through multiple control methods.

“We're trying to reduce the mosquito population at every stage of their life cycle," Chris said.  

Starting on April 1 of ever year, the process of trapping, freezing and testing these insects begins each year. The process typically continues until temperatures reach 28 degrees at night. Chris said in the past, this would be around September, but in recent years, its pushing back to October.

“We'll take these mosquitos and freeze them and separate them by species and put 50 of a certain species in one of these viles, then they do genetic testing on it and that will give us the answer of whether they have West Nile Virus," Chris said.

The mosquito species that Chris and his team work to trap is called Culex Pupiens. This is a bird-feeding species that can also be found near humans.

"It’s common that you would be bitten by this mosquito," Chris said.

However, the team said there are a few ways that residents can avoid getting bit.

“You can protect yourself by using an EPA labeled repellant," Chris said. "You can wear long sleeves and long trousers and just fix the screens in your house and more or less stay out of the mosquito habitat."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, eight out of ten people with the West Nile Virus, do not have symptoms. However, one in five people may develop a fever with a headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash. Most symptoms will clear up completely, the CDC said.

The mosquito control crew is also keeping an eye on mosquitos that may be carrying a similar virus, known as Eastern Equine Encephalitis, or EEE, but they haven't found any positives yet.

However, the Washington County Department of Public Health documented their first case of EEE in a horse on Monday. Additionally, The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced on Friday the first human case of EEE in Massachusetts this year.