Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

ALBANY, GA --
As the leaves change and temperatures in Southwest Georgia get cooler, it might be easy to think the threat of West Nile Virus is gone. 

"Temperature slows the process, as well as not getting the rain, slows the process down, because we don't have the water, we don't have the mosquitoes," said Donell Mathis of Dougherty County Public Works.

But hold on, don't throw out the insect repellent just yet, West Nile can still pose a threat even on the coldest day.

"They still need to be cautious, we aren't out of the woods yet, mosquitoes are still active, not as many, but there are still some out there that are active," said Mathis.

And experts say West Nile prevention is a year-round process. Which means your prevention tactics should be used 12 months out of the year.

"Just because it's getting cooler, you know in southwest Georgia our weather fluctuates so much, just don't let that fool you we still need to be thinking about mosquitoes," said Epidemiologist, Jacqueline Jenkins.

And with 3 cases reported in the month of October, Mathis says if you're having an issue around your home, call the experts.

"We're not spraying night in and night out because of the fact that the weather has changed, but if we get a complaint and the mosquitoes are bad, we would spray on an as needed basis," said Mathis.

Both Jenkins and Mathis are telling residents to keep standing water off their property, and continue wearing insect repellent into the cooler months in order to protect yourself from the West Nile Virus.