The city of Cedar Park voted July 21 to take action with the Williamson County and Cities Health District after a routine sample of a mosquito in the city tested positive for the West Nile Virus in mid-July.

The sample was collected from a location in northwest Cedar Park in the area near Veteran’s Park, City Manager Brenda Eivens said. The positive test was indicated in a lab result from the Texas Department of State Health Services in Austin.

There are no reported human cases of the virus in Cedar Park, and Williamson County has not seen a reported case since 2014, according to the city.

During a special called meeting July 21, the council approved a resolution that would allow the city manager’s office to execute an agreement with the WCCHD for mosquito spraying. Eivens said the city is in a stage of the testing process considered low risk; however, the agreement would authorize preventative spraying measures for the control and eradication of mosquitoes in Cedar Park.

“So that should we need those services, we’ve already got something in place and they can mobilize within 48 hours,” she said.

The city is following the health district’s practices for integrated mosquito management, which call for enhanced monitoring and testing, along with increased public outreach. Eivens said the city placed signs in the Veteran’s Park area to let users know about the positive sample, and that residents will see yard signs and additional social media coverage reminding people of the WCCHD’s campaign of how to ‘fight the bite.’

Eivens said at the beginning of this week a second mosquito sample tested negative for the virus. She said the city is currently awaiting further test results.

“At the beginning of next week we expect to be able to have additional data back,” she said.