West Nile virus is present in Carbon County.

According to a report by the Pennsylvania West Nile Control Program released Wednesday, one mosquito sample tested positive for West Nile virus in the county this year. The sample was taken from Palmerton.The sample was the 45th mosquito collected and 34th tested in the county.This sample makes the total number of reported positive results in the state 716 this year.A total of 38 out of the 67 counties have discovered the virus in mosquitoes; while three counties have had dead bird positive results.Monroe County has had four positive mosquito samples, found in Smithfield, Barrett, Coolbaugh and Polk townships; Lehigh County has had 26, including in Slatington; and Northampton County had eight positives.Schuylkill County has not had any positive samples to date.One human West Nile virus case in the state has been reported so far this year. That case occurred in Venango County.West Nile virus is a disease that infects birds, which are bitten by mosquitoes and transmitted to humans and other mammals through bites. It was first detected in the United States in 1999 and has since spread into numerous states.Since 2000, when a West Nile virus program was implemented in the state, Carbon County has had approximately two dozen positive West Nile virus results in mosquitoes; with only one confirmed human case in 2003.In 2009, the West Nile virus surveillance program was abolished in Carbon by the county commissioners because of the low number of positive results.