West Nile Virus has been detected in Delaware the first time for 2022 in a sentinel chicken, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced Friday.

This initial finding was from a sentinel chicken station in southern New Castle County sampled by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife Mosquito Control section and confirmed by the Delaware Public Health Laboratory on July 19.

While there have been no reported West Nile Virus cases in humans this year in the state, Delawareans are reminded that the possibility of contracting mosquito-transmitted diseases, including West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, will continue until colder autumn temperatures in mid-October or later.

Blood samples are collected by the Mosquito Control section each week from early July into October from the outdoor-caged sentinel chickens that are humanely housed and handled at 20 monitoring stations statewide. The blood samples are tested for antibodies by the Delaware Public Health Laboratory.

Sentinel chickens bitten by mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis develop antibodies to these diseases but are otherwise unaffected. Mosquitoes can transmit the diseases to humans and horses.