The four DFW counties are teaming up to fight West Nile virus this year.
Dr. Lou Brewer, director of Tarrant County Public Health says after last year’s worst-ever outbreak, county health departments want to get a jump on things this year.
"We all agreed that we wanted to start earlier, that we wanted to concentrate on the mosquito population and hope that we can make some impact there to lessen the number of human cases later in the year,” Brewer says.
Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin county health departments agree the very first emergence of West Nile positive mosquitoes will be the call to action instead of the first human case of the virus.
The counties are on board with new, year-round mosquito trapping the testing. It is the first time Denton County has conducted mosquito surveillance.
Brewer says the new county coalition will work with cities to identify infected mosquito populations and kill them before they bite.