Mosquitoes in Sedgwick, Reno, Shawnee, and Johnson counties tested by Kansas Department of Health and Environment have tested positive for West Nile virus.

West Nile virus is spread by the bite of a mosquito but does not spread from person to person. Symptoms range from slight headache and low fever to meningitis. In rare cases, West Nile virus infections are fatal.

KDHE recommends using insect repellant, wearing long sleeves or staying indoors during dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active, keeping good screens on windows and doors, and eliminating mosquito breeding sites by emptying standing water in such places as buckets and barrels, changing water in bird baths weekly, and keeping children’s wading pools empty and on their sides when not in use.