A mosquito testing positive for the West Nile Virus has been found by the Arizona Department of Health Services in a mosquito pool in the Betty’s Kitchen area of Mittry Lake.the infected mosquito is the first found by DHS this year in the Yuma area. the U.S. Army, however, discovered a mosquito carrying West Nile at the Yuma Proving Ground in July, said Brian O’Green, Yuma County environmental health manager.“We test every year down along the river. it is more or less an indicator for us to know, ‘Yeah, we’ve got it here. It’s back again.’ it is no big surprise. It’s business as usual. I anticipate in the next month or so we will probably find quite a few more positives.”Yuma County Public Health District’s vector control specialists will treat the Betty’s Kitchen area where the infected mosquito was found.the West Nile virus is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and can infect people, horses, many types of birds and other animals. Peak mosquito feeding hours are dusk to dawn.about one in 150 people infected with the virus develop severe illness. the risk of severe disease is higher for persons 50 and older, and there is currently no vaccine available, according to the Centers for Disease Control.the most severe result is sometimes called neuroinvasive disease because it affects a person’s nervous system. it can cause inflammation of the brain, the membrane around the brain and the spinal cord.the severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. these symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent.According to the CDC, up to 20 percent of the people who become infected have symptoms such as fever, headache and body aches, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Symptoms can last for as short as a few days, though even healthy people have become sick for several weeks. According to O’Green, about 25 mosquitoes positive with the virus were discovered in Yuma County in 2010.“every year we find them. the good news is usually where we find them is where there are not a lot of folks. We don’t like to see them in the areas where there are a lot of people living.”O’Green often goes fishing at local water ways, but before he gets out of his truck, “I put the insect repellent on. the old saying is insect repellent works really well, but you have to remember to use it.”Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.