Mosquito traps at Roswell Area Park have tested positive for West Nile virus for the second time this fall, the Fulton County Board of Health announced Sept. 30.

A contractor began spraying the park Tuesday night, Sept. 29, and continued Wednesday within a quarter-mile of the positive trap locations, Atlanta News First reported. The contractor, Vector Disease Control International, handles mosquito control for the county, according to WSB-TV.

The park at 10495 Woodstock Road remains open. All programs are running on schedule, and signs have been posted warning visitors about the findings and the spraying.

The City of Roswell announced the detection on social media, urging residents to use insect repellent, wear long sleeves and take extra precautions around dawn and dusk. Culex mosquitoes, which carry the virus, are most active during those hours.

Second detection this fall

Traps at Roswell Area Park and Garrard Landing Park first tested positive for West Nile on Sept. 1, prompting two nights of spraying, Appen Media reported at the time. Follow-up tests at both parks came back negative after the spraying.

This new positive applies only to Roswell Area Park. Whether Garrard Landing Park was also retested in the latest round has not been disclosed.

Statewide cases climbing

The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed eight human West Nile cases and one death statewide as of mid-September, WABE reported. The department said that number is expected to rise. Traps have tested positive in Fulton, DeKalb and Chatham counties.

People over 50, organ transplant recipients and those with cancer or diabetes face the greatest risk of severe illness, according to Emory Healthcare infectious disease specialist Dr. Robin Dretler. There is no vaccine for West Nile.

"If you start to get conjunctivitis (pink eye), stiff neck, confused, weakness in the legs, those are signs that you may be going on to one of the severe complications and need to be seen right away," Dretler told the Georgia Recorder in September.

Mosquito season in Georgia typically lasts through October. Fulton County health officials are preparing to retest the traps at Roswell Area Park, though no date has been announced.

Residents can reduce exposure by emptying standing water from flowerpots, buckets and birdbaths, and by keeping window and door screens in good condition.