Salobreña declares four-week West Nile Virus alert after virus-carrying mosquitoes found in trap

Local authorities in Salobreña have placed the town under alert for West Nile virus circulation after virus-carrying mosquitoes were confirmed in one trap. Full control and prevention protocols now run in coordination with the Public Health Delegation of the Junta de Andalucía.

Four-week alert now in force

The Direccion General de Salud Publica has declared Salobreña an alert area for West Nile Virus for the next four weeks. Ayuntamiento and Health Delegation now coordinate citizen protection steps and stronger control of the mosquitoes that transmit the disease for the full alert period.

Technical meeting and stronger controls

Mayor Javier Ortega held a technical meeting on Friday the 24th with the different council departments involved and the pest-control company that serves the council. Talks centred on measures already set out in the Municipal Plan for Surveillance and Control of Vectors that transmit West Nile virus. Fumigation will be stepped up in sensitive zones, more traps will be deployed as a preventive step, and an information campaign will reach residents through every municipal channel so they can take the protective actions required.

Ortega gave a clear message of calm: no human cases have been recorded, and only a few specimens of this type of bug appeared in a single trap. Existing prevention and control work against the virus is therefore proving effective. Surveillance of sensitive spots such as stagnant water and places with animals is being intensified, while permanent contact continues with the Distrito Sanitario Sur should any patient develop symptoms consistent with the infection.

Practical steps to limit mosquito bites

Ayuntamiento and Consejeria de Presidencia, Sanidad y Emergencias urge residents to adopt protection and prevention measures, giving special attention to vulnerable people and focusing on avoiding mosquito bites. Pot plants. Pot plants are a common safe haven for mosquitos, as the daily watering keeps water for long times, especially in the plates beneath the pots. It’s always good practice to allow the topsoil and plates to dry out completely before watering again, so as to reduce the attractiveness to mosquitos. Rubbish bins or bags going unemptied, dripping exterior taps, opened windows in bathrooms and kitchens, watered soil (mostly on golf courses), unemptied buckets for mopping – all of these everyday lapses in homekeeping can attract mosquitos and should be avoided in warmer months.

Registered topical mosquito repellents should be used. Light-coloured clothing that covers most of the body is advised, and strong scents from perfumes or aromatic soaps should be avoided because they attract mosquitoes.

Household precautions also matter: fit mosquito nets, apply domestic insecticides or environmental repellents, and switch off lights when they are not needed, since light draws the insects.

Preventing stagnant water is essential, as mosquitoes breed larvae there. Proper maintenance of pools, swimming pools and laundry areas is recommended, along with emptying any water that may collect unnoticed in gardens, plant pots, toys or buckets.

Livestock farms should renew animal drinking troughs frequently. Water in vehicle ruts or paths, leaks from taps or damaged pipes, and troughs that leak or receive little renewal must be removed.