West Nile Virus-Infected Mosquitoes Found in Ramat Gan and Yeroham

Female mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been trapped in Ramat Gan and Yeroham, the Environmental Protection Ministry reported on Sunday, November 8. The finding concerns infected mosquitoes in the two municipalities. The ministries' earlier account of their surveillance system provides context for such detections. In a joint statement published on September 1, the Health and Environmental Protection ministries said teams carry out thousands of inspections for mosquito larvae and hundreds of adult mosquito catches throughout the year. Mosquitoes are sent to Health Ministry laboratories for identification and testing. The statement identified June through late November as the usual period of increased detection of mosquitoes carrying the virus. In that September statement, Prof. Sigal Sadetzki said: "Mosquito monitoring may identify viral activity before it appears in diagnosed human illness." The ministries described surveillance combining information about mosquitoes, birds and human disease, involving the Health, Environmental Protection and Agriculture ministries and the Nature and Parks Authority. The September guidance placed responsibility for removing sanitary pest hazards in public spaces on local authorities. It advised residents to empty standing water from containers, use approved repellents according to their instructions and report mosquito hazards or public standing water through municipal hotline 106. The ministries said then that they would continue monitoring illness and mosquito activity and update the public as necessary.