Experts: West Nile activity could increase this year, but state has a ‘scattered’ mosquito response

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As of Thursday, there had been just one positive detection of West Nile virus in a human in Iowa, but Ryan Smith, an associate professor in the Entomology Department at Iowa State University, said more cases of the virus are likely on the horizon.

“This is undoubtedly the first of what has the potential for a lot of cases this year,” Smith said.

West Nile is a virus that causes West Nile fever and is most commonly transmitted through the bite of mosquitoes.

Smith — who oversees the Iowa Mosquito Surveillance Program at ISU, which has been running since the 1960s — said that historically the majority of West Nile cases are detected and reported to the State of Iowa in late August and early