WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Mosquito traps in two cities in Williamson County tested positive for West Nile Virus, according to the Williamson County and Cities Health District on Thursday.
The samples were taken on June 2 near North Colorado Street in Granger and near Murphy Park on Veteran’s Drive in Taylor — the first time this location has had a positive sample. The results of the tests came back positive June 30.
Taylor will be treating the area that tested positive for the virus and a 1-mile radius surrounding it on July 2 and 3. It will use a pyrethin-based insecticide along the street and parks. According to the National Pesticide Information Center, pyrethins are a type of pesticide that naturally occur in some flowers, although there are man-made varieties of the same chemical. It says generally these chemicals are “low in toxicity to people” but can irritate skin.
Williamson County’s first trap to test positive this year was also in the same area in Granger, near both Granger Elementary and Granger High School. It was the earliest in the season a trap had tested positive since the county started its Integrated Vector Management program in 2013 to proactively test and treat areas for mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus.
A record 17 Williamson County mosquito traps tested positive in 2020.
People who get sick from the virus may have a fever, headache, body aches, skin rash and swollen lymph nodes. The virus is deadly in rare cases. Three people had West Nile Neuroinvasive disease in Williamson County in 2020, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
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