FILE – In a Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 file photo, dead mosquitos are lined up waiting to be sorted at the Dallas County mosquito lab in Dallas. Federal health officials said Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012 that West Nile virus cases are up 40 percent since last week and may rival the record years of 2002 and 2003. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
Four days after Contra Costa County reported mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, officials in Santa Clara County reported Tuesday that they too have found mosquitoes that have tested positive.
The county's Vector Control District announced plans to begin spraying insecticide from trucks Thursday night in neighborhoods where virus-positive mosquitoes were found in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose, confined to ZIP codes 95054, 94089 and 95002.
In a news release, county officials said it is normal to see an increase in infected mosquitoes in the summer as they thrive in the heat, and that such spraying has been conducted regularly since 2003.
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According to the vector control district, no relocation is necessary during the spraying, which poses only minimal risk to people, pets and the environment.
Vector control staff will be available to answer any questions from the public on a dedicated West Nile virus hotline at (408) 282-3114 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Questions can also be submitted by email to vectorinfo@cep.sccgov.org.
