Public health experts across the Wasatch Front and northern Utah are urging people to take extra precautions outdoors after West Nile virus was detected in mosquitoes within Salt Lake and Box Elder counties.
The virus was detected in mosquitos that the South Salt Lake Valley Mosquito Abatement District collected in Draper and Riverton, according to Draper officials. They said positive mosquitoes were near the Draper FrontRunner station, located just east of the Jordan River and Galena-Soónkahni Preserve.
"However, the presence of the virus merits awareness throughout the city," the city wrote in a social media post Tuesday morning.
Later Tuesday, the Box Elder Mosquito Abatement District reported that the virus was also detected in mosquito pools sampled in three spots within the northern Utah county. It was found in pools at the Calls Fort Cemetery in Honeyville, by the intersection of 6800 West and 6800 North south of Tremonton and 800 North and I-15 in Brigham City, near the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
It's the first detection of the virus in Utah this year.
West Nile virus has become a typical summer issue in Utah since it was first detected in 2003.
Utah health officials note that most people who get the virus never develop any symptoms, but those who develop symptoms can suffer from headaches, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea or rash. It can also lead to "serious neurologic illness" and death in extremely rare cases.
Officials in both Salt Lake and Box Elder counties urged residents to use insect repellent and wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, especially when outdoors during the morning and evening hours, to reduce the potential of being bitten by a potentially infected mosquito.
