mosquito-borne disease

Southwest, north-central and south-central Kansas is under a high-risk warning for West Nile virus.

According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, portions of northwest, northeast and southeast Kansas are under a moderate-risk warning for the virus. That is based on historical data involving previous cases.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture is reporting the state’s first confirmed case of equine West Nile Virus this year.

As The Prowers Journal reports, a horse in Larimer County was diagnosed with the virus earlier this month.

The Lone Star State reported its first mosquito-transmitted Zika virus case Monday, making it only the second state other than Florida in which the virus has been spread from mosquitoes to humans, FiveThirtyEight reports.

The insect that transmits the Zika virus is known as the Aedes aegypti mosquito. And now that particular breed of mosquito has been discovered in southwest Oklahoma, reports KFOR.

The insect was found after the Oklahoma State Department of Health began a collaborative mosquito surveillance project with Oklahoma State University. Entomologists detected the mosquitoes in six different Oklahoma communities.

The insect that transmits the Zika virus is known as the Aedes aegypti mosquito. And now that particular breed of mosquito has been discovered in southwest Oklahoma, reports KFOR.

The insect was found after the Oklahoma State Department of Health began a collaborative mosquito surveillance project with Oklahoma State University. Entomologists detected the mosquitoes in six different Oklahoma communities.

As summer descends, concerns continue to mount that the Zika virus will spread in Texas over the coming months. In response, the City of Amarillo’s Public Health and Environmental Health departments have launched campaign called Mission Mosquito. The goal is to educate the public on how to prevent mosquito bites and reduce breeding areas in the city, reports MyHighPlains.com.

State health officials have confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in the state of Kansas. The patient is an adult in southwest Kansas, reports The Topeka Capital-Journal. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the case involves a person who had traveled to a country with “local Zika virus transmission.” The patent’s diagnosis was then confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.