Louisiana
Defending against West Nile virus in Louisiana includes testing, trapping mosquitoes
Twice a week in the summer and fall, employees with West Baton Rouge’s mosquito control department — like workers in 31 other Louisiana parishes — set traps for the southern house mosquito, the species that carries the West Nile virus.
The parishes are looking for information that will tell them where to send their mosquito-spraying trucks. They set up the traps in drainage ditches and near septic tanks, places where the mosquitoes like to lay their eggs.
In fact, the traps are baited with what’s called “artificial stinkwater” and are designed to attract pregnant female mosquitoes — because only female mosquitoes bite people (and birds) for blood, said George Bragg, director of the West Baton Rouge Mosquito Control department.
Both male and female mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, Bragg said, but “the females also take blood, because they need the protein to make eggs.”
The mosquito control workers capture the trapped live insects in nets, then take the nets back to the office and put them in cold storage for 45 minutes, one way to kill a mosquito.
Then comes the important next step: preparing the mosquito samples for testing.
West Nile virus
About 80% to 90% of all West Nile virus cases have no symptoms, the Louisiana Department of Health said. That is one reason why it is important to monitor mosquito populations, according to a recent report.
Other people with the virus may have mild to moderate flu-like symptoms and don’t feel bad enough to go a doctor or be tested for West Nile, the department said.
Then there is the small fraction of people with West Nile virus who can develop neuroinvasive diseases like meningitis and encephalitis.
“Due to the severe nature of these cases, they are consistently detected and reported,” the Department of Health said in a report out this week on diseases transmitted to humans by insects this year through Sept. 14.
According to the report, two deaths from a neuroinvasive disease have occurred in Louisiana during that time period.
Testing process
The testing of the trapped mosquitoes happens at LSU Diagnostics, an animal disease diagnostics lab housed in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.
But before that happens, parish mosquito control departments have more work to do.
After the mosquitoes in the nets come out of cold storage, they are separated by species — there are more than 60 in Louisiana — and gender, Bragg said.
The mosquitoes are then put into vials, anywhere from five to 100 per vial, and sent to LSU Diagnostics.
“Surveillance is a vital part of mosquito control,” Bragg said.
So far this year, 439 “mosquito pools” in Louisiana have tested positive for West Nile virus, out of 17,000 pools tested, said Alma Roy, Ph.D., a consultant with the diagnostics lab.
The state Department of Health describes a mosquito pool as aggregate samples of more than 50 mosquitoes from the same site.
Roy said the diagnostics lab at the LSU Vet School has been testing for West Nile virus since it first appeared in Louisiana in 2002.
“We test up to 1,000 vials a week and up to 30,000 vials yearly,” she said.
When the mosquitoes come in, they are ground up and tested for the genetic material of the virus.
“Not many people know about the lab, but we participate in the public health of the people of Louisiana,” Roy said.
Louisiana state epidemiologist Theresa Sokol said West Nile virus in humans is highly variable from one year to the next.
“The one thing you can count on is it’s unpredictable,” she said.
The West Nile virus season peaks in August, but will continue through the fall months, Sokol said. Testing ends in November.
“In Louisiana, I think, we’re particularly vulnerable, with our hot climate, lots of rain and humidity,” she said.
“Everybody throughout Louisiana right now is at risk at being infected by West Nile virus.”
She encourages people to take measures to protect themselves against mosquitoes.
The mosquito control department in West Baton Rouge is one of a handful in the state that regularly post their test findings, Bragg said.
For instance, earlier this week, the department posted on the parish Facebook page that it had submitted 22 mosquito samples to LSU Diagostics for testing on Monday and two tested positive for West Nile virus. The post continued with the department’s plans for spraying and other measures.
The numbers posted this week are small and no cause for worry, Bragg said.
The main reason the parish posts the information is that “we want people to be aware,” he said.
“We want to encourage people to do what they can around their yard” to protect against mosquitoes, Bragg said.
Some of those measures, according to Sokol and Bragg:
- Empty water from all containers around the property at least once per week.
- Get rid of or treat standing water on the property.
- Repair any holes in window and door screens.
- Make sure any gaps around window air-conditioning units are sealed.
- Clean the gutters.
- Make sure swimming pools are well chlorinated.
- Wear long, loosefitting clothing if possible.
- Wear mosquito repellent. If you wear sunscreen, put on the sunscreen first, then the mosquito repellent. Read the instructions for the repellent and reapply.
- Avoid activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
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New legislation in Baton Rouge would reclassify some illegal gaming-related offenses as racketeering law violations, elevating potential consequences.
Louisiana has already stepped up its enforcement of its gaming laws related to potential illegal gaming but a new bill in the state legislature would give prosecutors’ actions more teeth. The proposal would elevate certain crimes involving unlicensed gaming in the state to a racketeering charge with more severe penalties linked to convictions.
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Louisiana bill changes classification of gaming-related charges
Louisiana Rep. Bryan Fontenot has pre-filed HB 53, which could rewrite the state code as it pertains to unlicensed gaming sites. The legislation has been provisionally assigned to the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, as the 2026 session does not begin until March 9.
Under the proposal, the state’s definition of racketeering would expand to include “gambling, gambling by computer, gambling on cockfights, gambling by electronic sweepstakes, unlawful wagering, and bribery of sports participants.” Under current statutes, racketeering convictions carry penalties of fines of “not more than one million dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor for not more than 50 years, or both.”
Additionally, racketeering convictions that result in sentences of fines of at least $10,000 revoke recipients’ eligibility for parole. The enactment of this bill as currently composed could have a significant impact on the operation of sweepstakes-based online casino sites for real money in Louisiana.
At the same time, many of the companies in that space have already ceased potentially infringing actions within Louisiana.
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Louisiana has already been off-limits for sweepstakes casinos
In 2025, Louisiana gaming regulators and law enforcement took multiple actions to restrict residents’ access to unlicensed platforms for playing casino games online. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill shared a public notice about the illegality of sweepstakes-based online gaming sites, in addition to issuing cease-and-desist orders to the companies affiliated with those sites. As a result, many of the operators of those sites geofenced Louisiana out of their service areas.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board supplemented that action with its additional cease-and-desist letters. Fontenot’s bill could add additional weight to these demands if it becomes law.
There is currently no legal framework for playing online casino games or redeeming casino bonus codes in Louisiana. While online sports wagering is legal in most of the state, officials in Baton Rouge have not yet tackled the issue of iGaming.
Even if voters in Louisiana someday do clear the way for the utilization of Fanatics Casino promo codes, that would involve licensed gaming and not affect the implementation of Fontenot’s bill. However, such deliberations do not seem imminent.
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If HB 53 becomes law, Louisiana could levy some of the toughest penalties for illegal gaming activity in the United States. Many potential targets of prosecution have already pulled out of the state.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Gov. Jeff Landry is asking Louisiana’s congressional leaders to amend the state’s federal judicial districts, citing caseload growth and public safety concerns.
Landry sent letters to Speaker Mike Johnson, Sen. John Kennedy, Congressman Cleo Fields, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow requesting the change.
The request
Louisiana is currently divided into three federal judicial districts: Eastern, Middle, and Western. Landry is asking that West Feliciana Parish be moved from the Middle District to the Western District.
In the letters, Landry cited significant growth in the Middle District and an increased caseload for its judges. He said a major driver of the Middle District docket is Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Public safety argument
Landry said moving West Feliciana Parish into the Western District would improve judicial efficiency and better address public safety needs in East Baton Rouge Parish and the state.
He said East Baton Rouge Parish continues to battle violent crime. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, recent numbers show violent crime in the parish has decreased.
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