Epi Week #30 - 2015 General Statements

West Nile Virus activity continues to ramp up, with 21 new arbovirus-positive mosquito pools. Of the 21, all but one were from the Culex pipiens/restuans complex, with a single Culex salinarius pool from the town of Easton (Bristol County). DPH noted in their report that weather patterns have led to above-normal levels of Culex spp., the key WNV-carrying mosquitoes in the state. DPH is also cautioning everyone again that EEEv is likely present in mosquitoes at this time as well, though it remains undetected.

Weather

Scattered rain events brought precipitation to some parts of the state this past week, including the New Bedford area, Hampshire and Hampden Counties, and eastern and southern Berkshire County. Summary data for July indicates that temperatures were highly variable throughout the month, though they were averaging slightly below normal until the third week of July. The heat of the last week of the month pushed all reporting stations to slightly above normal. Rainfall was highly variable in July, with some parts of the state receiving above normal rainfall (Pittsfield received just over 5 inches, significantly above normal) while other parts of the state remained dry (Boston was more than 1.3” drier than normal).