The Bell County Public Health District placed several traps in the area Thursday afternoon to monitor the mosquito population.
Last week, the first travel related case of Zika was discovered in the county and health district officials wanted to assure the public that no mosquito in central Texas is carrying the virus.
Ten gravi-traps were positioned in places that easily attract mosquito--grassy areas and places with standing water like ditches. When mosquitos land to lay their eggs in a tub full of stagnant water placed my researchers, a fan will suck them up into a net.
Then the samples will be collected the next morning. But the Bell county public health district wants the public to be assured there is nothing to worry about right now.
"What we're looking for is any signs of of diseases mosquito born diseases such as dengue fever, West Nile virus and Zika," Bell County Public Health District spokesperson Gene Mikeska said. "So far we've found none in mosquito samples we've collected."
They are mainly check for the aedes egypti mosquito which carries diseases like Zika
"It's really the female mosquito that we are attracting here." Mikeska said. "That's what we are looking for because that's the one that's going to take the blood and would also be the one to transmitted diseases."
From there the samples will be taken to a lab in Austin to find out if they are carrying any diseases. It takes two weeks to get results back.
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