Benton County MCD currently tests for West Nile Virus (WNV), St. Louis Encephalitis Virus (SLEV), and Western Equine Enephalitis Virus (WEEV) within the District boundaries. Mosquito samples, whenever possible, are tested in house. But, the District can send off samples for either initial testing or confirmation testing if that action is warranted.
Our In-house testing uses qPCR and provides quick results on field collected mosquito samples and serves as an 'early warning system' in our effort to detect WNv before it infects people, pets and/or livestock. PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction. This is a real-time amplification of targeted DNA and the "q" stands for quantitative. If you would like to know more about PCR and the methods utilized, ClevaLab has a great YouTube video covering this subject: What is PCR and qPCR?
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Website Accessibility Policy
Benton County Mosquito Control District is fully committed to providing accessible facilities, elements and
channels of communication to all members of the public. As part of this commitment, Benton County Mosquito Control District
has a policy of providing an accessible website compatible with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and
commercial screen reading software. All features of the website are coded to allow individuals with vision and
other impairments to understand and use the website to the same degree as someone without disabilities. We welcome
feedback and can often resolve issues in a timely manner if they arise.
If you need any special assistance or accommodations:
Benton County Mosquito Control District has designated a compliance officer for website disability-related accommodations.
The compliance officer has received training in website accessibility and updates the site in accordance with those best
practices. Contact our accessibility officer to report an issue.
Compliance Procedures and Reports
In addition to testing with users with a wide range of disabilities and coding our website to WCAG standards,
Benton County Mosquito Control District regularly scans its website to ensure ongoing compliance, and makes timely
changes to any inaccessible changes, if any are found.
Linked Documents and Third Parties
Please note that this site may link out to third-party websites, such as state or federal agencies, that do
not have accessible content. This site may also include documents provided by third parties included in our
agenda packets, for example. While we cannot control the accessibility of content provided by third parties,
we are happy to assist any member of the public with reading and accessing content on our site.