West Nile virus is present in Carbon County.

According to a report by the Pennsylvania West Nile Virus Control Program, released Tuesday, one mosquito sample tested positive for West Nile virus in the county so far this year. The sample was taken from Lehighton.This sample makes the number of reported positive results in the state 46.Amanda Witman, press aide of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said that the number of positives is "lower relative to other years at this point in time.""This can change as the summer marches on," she added.According to the current surveillance data and maps from the state, a total of 12,344 samples throughout the commonwealth have been collected this year and 2,699 tested.Twenty-three out of the 67 counties have discovered the virus in mosquitoes, while no counties have had dead bird positive results. Of the 23 counties, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill counties each reported one West Nile virus positive mosquito sample since July 1.No human West Nile virus cases in the state have been reported so far this year.West Nile virus is a disease that infects birds and mosquitoes and is transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes. It can cause encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord.The virus was first detected in the United States in 1999 and has since spread to numerous states.Since 2000, when a West Nile virus program was implemented in the state, Carbon County has had a total of 23 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.