Evidence of a new virus that’s transmitted by mosquitoes has turned up in Madison County.
Mosquitoes collected from a trap in the town of Sullivan this week have tested positive for the Jamestown Canyon Virus. Madison County officials say no human cases of the virus have been reported, but a bite from an infected mosquito can, in rare cases, lead to serious illness.
Saravanan Thangamani studies tick and mosquito-borne illnesses at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. He said this is a virus spread from mosquitoes that likely got it from a deer.
“So deer, the white tail deer, are the reservoir for this virus,” Thangamani said. “Which means that the virus doesn't kill the deer, but allows the virus to replicate inside. So when a mosquito is feeding on the deer, it actually takes up the virus.”
Anyone infected with the Jamestown Canyon Virus may develop flu-like symptoms, including a fever. Thangamani said it’s generally discovered if a patient develops more serious symptoms.
“Only at the latest stage they differentiate to become meningitis or encephalitis,” he said. “So I think that if the patient is coming from an endemic area, I think it is important that the clinician put this epidemiological information for differential diagnosis.”
Thangamani says this is also an opportunity to remind New Yorkers to take precautions against mosquito bites that can also spread diseases like West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis this time of year.
