Grand Prairie confirms West Nile virus has been found in a mosquito pool for the first time this year.
City workers detected the virus from one of its mosquito traps set in the 75051 zip code.
The city has been very proactive this year in the fight against the bite and plans to aggressively target that infected area with ground spraying.
"What historically we've been seeing is that about two weeks after you catch your first positive sample, you start seeing positive human cases," said senior environmental specialist Werner Rodriguez. "We're spraying the area, but we're also treating all the storm sewer systems within the area that we're going to spray just to cover every angle of the infected area."
City workers have increased the number of trappings compared to last year from about 15 a week to 25 a week. They have been using traps throughout the city since April.
The first positive case of West Nile virus comes after almost 300 tests. So far, there have been no human cases found in Grand Prairie this year.
"Last year we already had three or four cases already at this time," said environmental specialist Andrew Krentz. "We've seen an actual decrease in the number of pools we've had to report to regarding pools that look bad and maybe have some mosquito breeding."
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Krentz hoped residents will continue to stay vigilant as the peak months for the West Nile virus approach.
Spraying begins at 10 p.m. Thursday and continues Friday night. The spraying perimeter is Gramley on the north, south Belt Line Road on the east, Marshall Drive on the south, and Southwest Third Street on the west.
