From KPBS
June 5, 2020
A mosquito caught in routine trapping in the Black Mountain Ranch area has tested positive for West Nile virus, the first appearance of the virus in San Diego County in 2020.
County environmental health officials remind people to protect themselves from mosquitoes, which can potentially transmit the disease, by following the county’s “Prevent, Protect, Report” guidelines — including finding and dumping out standing water in yards and around homes to keep mosquitoes from breeding.
Incidences of West Nile virus were mild in San Diego County in 2019. Three people tested positive, but there were no fatalities and all three people were suspected of having contracted the virus while outside the county.
However, West Nile virus remains a potentially deadly threat in San Diego County and the state, officials said. In 2015, 44 San Diego County residents tested positive for West Nile virus and six died. In 2019, 225 California residents became sick from West Nile virus and six died, according to the California Department of Public Health.