wsbt.com

A Central Indiana neighborhood is taking extra precautions after a resident died from the West Nile Virus. Officials say the victim in his late sixties lived in Center Township.

August and September are the peak and prime months for someone to contract the West Nile virus. Then, if you add in all the rain we've had this summer, it's been a tremendous season for mosquito breeding. Marion County Mosquito Control tells us they've conducted more than 500 tests this year. So far, they've found the disease in six townships but nothing yet in Perry, Franklin and Decatur Townships.

"But the level of transmission is very very low and this has come as complete surprise about the fatality." Chuck Dulla, Mosquito Control.

Still, officials say they target and test Center Township neighborhoods more than any other area because they've seen more deaths than anywhere else. In 2002, there were 40 confirmed cases of the virus and twenty of them were in Center Township.

"In Center Township you can have some sanitation problems here and there and when it rains these containers, tires, trash whatever is going to collect water." Dulla Said.

Residents in the higher risk area seem to take the warning seriously after hearing someone nearby has died.