PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Pull down your sleeves and apply insect repellent: West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes collected from Pittsfield. 

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed a virus isolation at the Pittsfield Cemetery near the end of King Street, the city announced on Friday. 

There are no confirmed human cases, but residents are encouraged to take preventative actions. 

"WNV is most commonly transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito," according to a press release from City Hall. 

"The mosquitoes that carry this virus are common throughout the state and are found in urban as well as more rural areas. While WNV can infect people of all ages, people over the age of 50 are at higher risk for severe infection." 

To avoid contact with an infected mosquito, residents can apply insect repellent, wear long sleeves and pants, be aware of peak mosquito hours from dusk until dawn, and mosquito-proof their homes by draining still water and using screening. 

Pittsfield is continuing to work closely with the Berkshire County Mosquito Control project and other agencies. For mosquito control, the city is applying larvicide, conducting targeted education programs, distributing fact sheets on West Nile and on reducing exposure to mosquitoes, and treating catch basins.
 
Last week, it was announced that Northern Berkshire County saw the first West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes of the season in Massachusetts.  The State Public Health Laboratory confirmed WNV in a mosquito sample collected in Clarksburg on June 16.