Connecticut began its seasonal mosquito testing program throughout the state Tuesday.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) traps mosquitoes and monitors them for mosquito-borne diseases, such as eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus.
"The mosquito monitoring program serves as an effective early warning system to detect and assess the risk of mosquito-borne diseases in Connecticut," said Dr. Philip Armstrong, medical entomologist at CAES.
The testing runs from now through the end of October. CAES usually begins to see mosquitos infected with West Nile virus in early July, and EEE is usually detected later in the summer, according to Dr. Armstrong.
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Last year, West Nile virus was detected in mosquitoes in 21 towns in Hartford, New Haven, and Fairfield counties. There were eight confirmed human cases of West Nile virus.
In the same testing period in 2020, EEE was detected in mosquitoes in two towns in New London and Windham counties. There were no reports of cases of EEE in humans or horses last year.
