PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management has announced that a pool of two mosquitoes was sent today for further testing to a laboratory in Galveston, Texas, after the University of Rhode Island laboratory found that they tested positive for an unknown virus. The test results are expected late next week. The virus is not Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and may be a virus that is only harmful to mosquitoes and does not affect humans.

The two freshwater mosquitoes are of the Aedes genus, which are human biters, but are relatively uncommon. They were trapped on the night of September 20 at the Boy Scout Camp on Block Island. The Department has contacted both town and Boy Scout officials as a precaution, and is setting six additional traps on Block Island tomorrow night.

DEM officials doubt the virus is the West Nile-like virus that has shown up in New York and western Connecticut, but it cannot be conclusively eliminated until the test results from Texas are available at the end of next week. Trapping data from central and eastern Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have not revealed the presence of the virus that has shown up in New York and western Connecticut. Mosquitoes from that area do not travel as far as Rhode Island, and birds that can carry the virus are flying south, not east, at this time of year. Therefore, DEM is not recommending spraying at this time.

DEM will continue to trap and test mosquitoes until the first killing frost, which generally occurs at the end of October. The Department recommends that the public continue to take normal precautions, and to consider environmental factors involved in mosquito biting activity.

Although there was a radical reduction in freshwater mosquitoes earlier in the season because of the drought, recent rains have brought that mosquito population up to normal levels. The drought had no effect on saltmarsh mosquitoes, which have been plentiful, particularly in towns that have not had mosquito controls in place.

Steps Rhode Islanders can take to reduce mosquito bites include:

• Personal protection such as using mosquito repellent and wearing protective clothing, particularly at dawn and dusk when most biting occurs. Repellents containing more than 30 percent DEET are unnecessary. Never use repellents on infants, and avoid getting repellents in children's eyes.

• Eliminating mosquito breeding grounds. Empty and remove old tires, buckets and other debris that hold water. Keep roof gutters clean and free of anything that keeps them from draining. Repair window and door screens.

Environmental factors to consider are:

DEM began its weekly mosquito trapping and testing program on June 1. Over 16,000 mosquitoes have been tested to date, from traps set at sites statewide, with a greater number in the South County and East Bay areas. The most recent results come from 1,005 mosquitoes trapped September 20 and separated into 60 groups, or pools, for testing. The pool of two mosquitoes from the Block Island site is the only positive found this season.

The mosquito abatement program has information on a website: www.uri.edu/research/eee There is also a DEM webpage with rabies contacts information.