The mosquito surveillance program is currently in progress until the end of September.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit started the program again this year, in the last week of June. The health unit uses the program to identify mosquitoes and see if there’s disease causing mosquitoes in the area.
Kim McCann is a Senior Public Health Inspector at the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit and says traps are set up in all three counties and typically trap in larger municipalities, including Kemptville.
The health unit says these are not mosquito control units and if a trap is found in a neighbourhood, do not disturb it. Other municipalities the traps are in include: Brockville, Kemptville, Carleton Place, Almonte, Perth and Gananoque.
Even though there are no current cases of West Nile Virus in the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark area, McCann warns this is the time of year where positive mosquitoes could show up and some human cases could come up as well.
To lower the risk of being bit by a mosquito, especially at dusk, McCann says wear long clothing or use an insect repellent that contains beets or icaridin.
The health unit has been running this program since 2003, to find out more information about the West Nile Virus visit the health unit’s website here.