TANGIPAHOA - A facility in Tangipahoa Parish says it's the first in the state capable of testing mosquito samples for West Nile Virus in-house.

According to a post by the Tangipahoa Mosquito Abatement District, the lab operations traditionally consist of sending certain species to the LSU veterinary lab to be tested. But the Tangipahoa facility says it can now test additional samples if West Nile Virus is suspected in a specific area.

While this won't eliminate the need to send samples to LSU, the advancement will improve the facility's ability to treat areas at risk.

The testing at the facility could cut as much as one to two weeks of wait time.