The Pennsylvania West Nile Control Program has announced that two more Carbon County mosquito samples have tested positive for the West Nile virus.

The report, released Thursday, explains that the samples were collected from Lower Towamensing Township and Bowmanstown. These are the third and fourth positive results in the county this year. The other two positive samples were collected in Palmerton and Lower Towamensing Township in August.A total of 63 mosquito samples were collected from Carbon and 37 were tested to date.This makes a total of 870 mosquitoes and 13 birds that have tested positive for West Nile virus across the state.A total of four human cases have also been reported in Pennsylvania. They include two males from York County, a male from Montgomery County, and most recently, a female from Delaware County.West Nile virus is a disease that infects birds, which are bitten by mosquitoes and transmitted to humans and other mammals through infected mosquito bites. It can cause encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain; or meningitis, inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord.It was first detected in the United States in 1999, when 62 people in New York became ill and seven died; and has since spread into other states.For more information on the Pennsylvania West Nile Control Program or for an updated list of results by county, visit

http://www.westnile.state.pa.us/surv.htm