UPDATE: Residents of Darien have a low risk for illness from West Nile according to David Knauf, Darien Director of Health. Mr. Knauf told The Darien Times that while he still asks people to take precautions, Darien has not seen any infections.
“It happens ever year and I don’t think it’s going away,” he said. “It seems like the number of illnesses have declined ever year.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Rain and warm temperatures in Darien this summer might have attracted mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile virus. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station collected a mosquito sample that carried the virus on July 26 at High School Lane.
The Department of Health has not reported any human infections but residents should be cautious. Mosquitoes develop in water and the spread of West Nile can be attributed to the heat and wet weather.
The Connecticut Mosquito Management Program monitors mosquitoes from June through October and maintains two collection sites in Darien. Thirty-one other towns in Connecticut had mosquitoes test positive for the virus including those in Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, Middlesex and New London counties.
