By Matt Leingang
Enquirer staff writer

Registered sanitarian Carmen E. Short checks a mosquito trap in Sycamore Township near Kenwood Towne Centre. Mosquitoes have tested positive for the West Nile virus in Sycamore Township and in Golf Manor. Photos by MICHAEL E. KEATING/The Enquirer

Public health officials are urging residents to help reduce the mosquito population in parts of Hamilton County, where mosquitoes continue to test positive for the West Nile virus.

Infected mosquitoes were found June 11 in a stormwater drain at the end of Yakima Drive in Sycamore Township. Further testing shows that infected mosquitoes remain there and have been detected on Hammel Avenue in Golf Manor as well.

The virus has not been detected in mosquitoes anywhere else in Greater Cincinnati.

Hamilton County sanitarians canvassed neighborhoods in Sycamore Township and Golf Manor Thursday, placing larvae-killing "dunks" in water basins and other public properties.

AVOID THE BITE

• Avoid mosquito-infested areas or stay indoors when mosquitoes are active, usually in the evening and early morning. When outdoors, consider wearing long pants, long-sleeved shirts, shoes and socks. • Use colognes and perfumes sparingly. • Adults, with the exception of pregnant women, should consider using insect repellent containing no more than 30 percent DEET. Insect repellent should never be used on infants and repellent for children should contain no more than 10 percent DEET, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

But they also went door-to-door and asked residents to eliminate standing water on their property and to pick up any containers - watering cans, coffee cans, soda cans - that hold water and provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

"People need to take care of their yards. We can only do so much," said county sanitarian Jeremy Hessel.

Steve Scholtz, 57, who lives on nearby Glenellyn Drive in Sycamore Township, returned this week from a vacation and said he was unaware that infected mosquitoes were in his neighborhood.

"I'm glad I know now," Scholtz said.

No human transmission of the virus has been reported this year in either Ohio or Kentucky. The virus is passed to people by bites of mosquitoes that have fed on infected birds.

West Nile virus arrived in America in 1999 and has spread across the continental United States. Symptoms of the illness include a slight fever, body aches, neck stiffness, vomiting and confusion.

Fewer than 1 percent of people bitten by an infected mosquito become severely ill, officials say.

The elderly and those with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk for infection. In the most serious cases, it can induce a deadly inflammation of the brain.

Last year in Ohio, there were 14 confirmed human cases and 94 probable cases reported. Eight people died.

Kentucky reported 14 confirmed human cases in 2003, including one death.

E-mail mleingang@enquirer.com