Pest control group working to curb rise of disease-carrying mosquitoes in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Several mosquitos in the Valley have tested positive for the West Nile virus and St. Louis Encephalitis.

It's a problem across California but now six positive mosquito collections have been found in Fresno, and it's in areas you wouldn't expect.

Five collections from mosquito pools last week by the Fresno Mosquito and Vector Control District showed the diseases here in the Central Valley, and it's a warning for people to take precaution.

"West Nile and St. Louis is pretty much everywhere out there right now," district manager Tim Phillips said. "People should just protect themselves from mosquito bites."

But the control district wasn't expecting to find the virus in the areas they found.

"It kind of surprised me, we don't see too much in the Tower, but I think Fresno High, Tower District, Roeding Park, one of them was in Easton," Phillips said.

And now Tower District residents are ready to prepare themselves, like Robert Griffin who says he's unable to drive and has to walk a lot of places.

"I don't like that, it's dangerous because people could get sick," he said. "I'm thinking about going to get some repellent because it kind of scares me."

These new numbers make a total of 12 positive collections for this year.

"This is different," Phillips said. "This is unusual, people are noticing it. They're not happy about it, but we're going to have to make an adjustment everywhere this mosquito appears worldwide."

Officials say the mosquitos carrying these viruses typically bite after dark so they advise to either protect yourself with repellent or limit your time outdoors.