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Photo gallery: Mississippi public health entomologist tests mosquitoes to monitor for West Nile virus

Mississippi Today
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Photo gallery: Mississippi public health entomologist tests mosquitoes to monitor for West Nile virus

Seven human cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed this year, but Mississippi State Department of Health officials suggest the actual number is likely higher. September and August are the the peak months for these cases. 

Wendy Varnado, the state public health entomologist, says it is critical to surveil and test mosquitoes for the virus because detecting infected insects can provide up to a two-week warning before human cases appear. Only 11 counties in the state routinely trap mosquitoes and send samples to the Health Department for testing. 

Varnado says residents can help reduce mosquito populations by removing standing water around their homes.

Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, prepares to check a gravid trap at a home in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. A gravid trap is used to collect female egg-bearing mosquitoes, which can then be tested for West Nile virus. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, disassembles a gravid trap at a home in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, disassembles a gravid trap at a home in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, holds mosquitoes caught in a gravid trap at a home in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, prepares to take mosquitoes caught in a gravid trap back to her lab at the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, collects another gravid trap near the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, reaches for dead mosquitoes to test in her lab at the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
A personalized license plate sits in the window of Wendy Varnado’s office at the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Varnado is Mississippi’s public health entomologist. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, prepares to test mosquitoes in her lab at the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, looks at the stickers covering her office door at the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
The office door of Wendy Varnado, Mississippi’s public health entomologist, is covered in stickers at the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
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