Yellowknife (July 07/04) - Health and environment officials are trapping mosquitos in the Northwest Territories to test for West Nile virus.

West Nile is transmitted from birds to humans by certain types of mosquitos. It has spread quickly across Canada and turned up last summer in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

"Once you start to see it in birds, humans aren't far behind," said Dr. Andre Corriveau, chief medical health officer for the NWT.

"Although the Territories has lots of mosquitos there is very little information on which species is prevalent," Corriveau said.

Brett Elkin, a veterinarian with Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, said the study is a starting point to determine if Northern mosquitos are capable of transmitting the disease.

Mosquito traps will be used to gather mosquitos from Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson. The bags of bugs will then be sent to an entomologist in Winnipeg who will identify the species.

Six traps will be used in the study, each costing $2,000. Field work for the study will be complete by the end of the summer.

"One of the outcomes will be to determine if we do have the type of mosquito that carries the West Nile virus," said Craig Nowakowski, senior environmental health officer with the health authority.

"Most of the mosquitos we have up here are nuisance mosquitos that don't carry West Nile," Nowakowski said.