More mosquitoes in NJ carry West Nile. Here are the counties where the most were found.

More mosquitoes in NJ carry West Nile. Here are the counties where the most were found. New Jersey Real-Time News More mosquito...

More mosquitoes in NJ carry West Nile. Here are the counties where the most were found.

New Jersey Real-Time News

More mosquitoes in N.J. carry West Nile. Here are the counties where the most were found. mosquito-pixabay-1-0.jpg

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By Spencer Kent | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

More rain means more mosquitoes.

And we all know we've had enough rain this summer.

To add injury to insult, more of the mosquitoes are testing positive for West Nile virus in New Jersey this season. And, this spike is expected to continue for the coming weeks, according to state health officials who are warning residents to take precautions.

This comes as officials recently confirmed the the first three human cases of West Nile virus in the state this year â€" a 74-year-old man from Hunterdon County, a 76-year old man from Essex County, and an 80-year-old woman from Hudson County.

Despite only three people contracting the virus so far this season, the number of mosquito pools â€" a collection of mosquitoes trapped throughout the state â€" that have tested positive for West Nile is on the rise. And some counties are faring worse than others.

Between July 8 and July 28, a record number of 195 positive pools were found in counties throughout the state â€" that's twice the amount found during the same time last year and a five-year high for that same period in the state, according to the state Department of Health.

So far this season there has been a total of 284 positive pools found in 20 counties throughout the state (Passaic County has not seen any as of now). There were only 192 mosquito pools that tested positive for West Nile last year.

"We saw increased (West Nile virus-positive) mosquito pools earlier in the summer in comparison to previous years" said New Jersey epidemiologist Dr. Tina Tan said in an email. Therefore, she added, "Residents should take precautions to avoid mosquito bites until the end of mosquito season," which typically lasts until early fall.

Hereâ€™s a breakdown of how each of New Jersey's 21 counties is faring and which have had the highest concentration of mosquitoes to test positive for West Nile virus:

21. Passaic County