Orange County’s West Nile virus season is off to an unusually aggressive start, with more virus activity than normal, officials from the Mosquito and Vector Control warned Wednesday.
Biologists with the district said they are finding more mosquitoes that are testing positive for West Nile virus than any year in the past.
As of Wednesday, the district has identified 206 mosquitoes with the virus, nearly nine times the number found during the same period last year.
State officials also said California is seeing an uptick in the virus this summer.
“If we’re looking at the numbers right now in terms of mosquito positives, it is shaping up to look pretty similar to those outbreak years,” said Amber Semrow, the director of the Scientific Technical Services.
The worst outbreak in Orange County happened in 2014 when health officials found 505 mosquitoes carrying the virus. There were also 280 human infections, including nine death.
Good news for 2026: no human infections were reported as of Wednesday. Orange County officials said they are keeping to keep it that way.
“We are going to be spraying. We do it at nighttime between midnight and 5 a.m. We do an ultra low concentration, real small droplets that will only adhere to the mosquitos,” Brian Brannon from the OC Mosquito and Vector Control told NBCLA.
Brannon emphasized homeowners must be the first line of defense by draining water around their homes weekly and using screen doors. When outside at dusk or dawn, people should wear repellent, he said.
The district said it’s offering free property inspection and free service requests to control mosquito problems across Orange County.