This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
West Nile virus, previously confined to southern Utah, surfaced this week in mosquitoes along the Wasatch Front.
Mosquito abatement officials said a group of Culex pipien mosquitos in Utah County tested positive for the virus.
It's been a mild season this year with only one human case of the mosquito-borne illness in Utah. But the season doesn't end until the first hard freeze.
"We really don't want individuals to be complacent," said Bob Mower, Utah County's Mosquito Abatement director, in a prepared statement. "We haven't seen as many mosquitoes, but those that we have are of the species that carry West Nile."
The county continues to do air spraying around Utah Lake, but Mower urges residents to remove standing water from around their homes.
The species that tests positive "likes very organic, gunky water found in the catch basins near residential areas as well as neglected fish ponds or standing water in containers found in yards," said Mower.
Kirsten Stewart