Hot and wet weather provided perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes this summer, but the state hasn’t found a single case of West Nile virus yet this year.
State Health Department West Nile virus coordinator Zip Johnson says the disease could make a comeback though, following flooding and hot weather in July. She says that could still lead to a bumper crop of mosquitoes that carry West Nile.
Johnson says health officials have collected several mosquitoes of the breed commonly known to carry the disease. However, test results on all of those samples have come back negative for West Nile virus.
Still, given the hot and wet weather we’ve had since June, Johnson is surprised that West Nile virus hasn’t already popped up.