Illness & Disease Links
Benton County Mosquito Control District is thankful to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) for allowing the District to use information and imagery from their website for public information and education. While the District may reference other sources as well, unless noted the imagery and information comes from the CDC.
Disease Monitoring
For the collection of adult female mosquitoes (male mosquitoes do not 'bite') BCMC uses dry ice CO2 traps. These traps are based upon a CDC (Centers for Disease Control) designed CO2 (carbon dioxide) trap.
Control Operators (i.e., field personnel) routinely collect larval samples and bring them to our lab where genus and population abundance information is gathered about mosquito producing water sites.
Feedback from the public can be extremely helpful. Our control operators cannot be at every site within the District and some species are much more active during evening hours, so the public often times will see increasing mosquito populations before we become aware of them.
Benton County MCD currently tests for West Nile virus (WNv) and St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) within the District boundaries. Mosquito samples can either be tested in-house or sent to a state accredited laboratory.
West Nile Virus
West Nile virus is a flavivirus (a genus of Japanese Encephalitis and closely related to Louis Encephalitis) commonly found in Africa, West Asia and the Middle East (it was first discovered in Uganda, Africa in 1937). It was discovered in the United States in 1999 in the New York City area and has been moving across the U.S. since.
The lead agency for reporting and collection of dead birds is the Benton-Franklin Health Department. Click here to find the information and instructions you need to report a dead bird.
West Nile virus has been detected in dead birds of at least 326 species. Although birds, particularly crows and jays, infected with WN virus can die or become ill, most infected birds do survive.
Infected horses are not a risk to other horses. However, West Nile virus should be considered a serious threat. The virus normally causes mild symptoms, but it can cause encephalitis; an inflammation of the brain and central nervous system.
Information about how we perform our monitoring and testing of the mosquito population within the District, as well as information about humans, horses/other mammals, birds and mosquitoes for the entire state of Washington.
A collection of links leading to an array of information regarding West Nile Virus, transmission methods, symptoms, and ways that you can protect yourself from this disease.
Chikungunya
An emerging mosquito-borne illness that is transmitted to people through mosquito bites. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on a person already infected with the virus.
Dengue
Dengue is a disease caused by any one of four closely related viruses. These viruses are transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. It is estimated that there are over 100 million cases of dengue worldwide each year.
Dog Heartworm
Since the first diagnosis of canine heartworm disease over one hundred years ago, heartworm infection has been widely recognized throughout the world as one of the major health problems affecting pets today.
Eastern Equine Encephalitis
Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a mosquito-borne viral disease. As the name suggests, Eastern Equine Encephalitis occurs in the eastern half of the US. Because of the high case fatality rate, it is regarded as one of the more serious mosquito-borne diseases in the United States.
Filariasis
Lymphatic filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by microscopic, thread-like worms. The adult worms only live in the human lymph system. The lymph system maintains the body's fluid balance and fights infections.
Japanese Encephalitis
Japanese encephalitis is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30-50,000 cases reported annually. Fewer than 1 case/year is reported in U.S. citizens traveling to and living in Asia. Rare outbreaks in U.S. territories in Western Pacific have occurred.
LaCrosse Encephalitis
Approximately 70 cases of LaCrosse Encephalitis are reported per year, primarily in the Eastern United States. Most cases result in mild illness, but some cases may progress to seizures, coma, or in rare instances, death.
Malaria
Forty-one percent of the world's population live in areas where malaria is transmitted causing an estimated 700,000-2.7 million deaths from malaria each year, 75% of them African children. 1,337 cases of malaria, including 8 deaths, were reported for 2002 in the United States, even though malaria has been officially eradicated in this country since the early 1950's.
Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite with symptoms ranging from high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. Although malaria can be a fatal disease, illness and death from malaria are largely preventable.
Rift Valley Fever
Rift Valley fever is an acute, fever-causing viral disease that affects domestic animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels) and humans. It is most commonly associated with mosquito-borne epidemics during years of unusually heavy rainfall.
St Louis Encephalitis
Mosquitoes become infected by feeding on birds infected with the St. Louis encephalitis virus. Infected mosquitoes then transmit the St. Louis encephalitis virus to humans and animals during the feeding process. The St. Louis Encephalitis virus grows both in the infected mosquito and the infected bird, but does not make either one sick.
Western Equine Encephalitis
Western equine encephalitis virus, member of the family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus. Closely related to eastern and Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses, it can exhibit symptoms ranging from mild flu-like illness to frank encephalitis, coma, and even death.
Yellow Fever
Yellow Fever is hard to identify and diagnose, so under-reporting undoubtedly occurs. It is estimated that there are about 200,000 cases, with 30,000 deaths occurring, annually from Yellow Fever worldwide.
Zika Virus
Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 in Uganda, Africa, but starting in 2013 outbreaks started occurring with associations between Zika virus and congenital malformations and severe neurological and autoimmune complications.
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