The 1st counties in Illinois have discovered mosquitos, who are carrying the West Nile Virus, with those counties being Du Page, Cook and Will County.  All 3 of those counties are in the vicinity of Chicago.  According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, once a county is tested positive for the virus, it will be indicated as a positive for the entire 2019 mosquito breeding season.  A county is considered positive either through mosquito, a bird, a human, a horse, or any other type of mammal that is found positive.  The local mosquito populations for the virus goes from now until mid-October.  When analysis reports were done earlier this month, 230 mosquito samples were tested and 3-percent or 7 mosquitos tested positive.  Each county also collects dead birds, mostly consisting of blue jays and crows, where they are tested for the virus.  The IDPH asks that all residents remove mosquito breeding opportunities, which is standing water.  That can include open buckets, clogged rain gutters, waterproof covers, old tires, and even bird baths.  As of May 28th, there were no cases of the West Nile Virus in humans for the 2019 year.  For more information, call Will Summers, who is the Environmental Health Officer in Washington County at 618-327-36-44.