US Counties take measures to combat W. Nile virus

Mosquitoes that can carry the West Nile virus have returned in large numbers in United States. Different counties in the country have pulled up its socks to quash the potentially deadly effects of the virus, which made its first appearance last year in late June.

“Mosquitoes are breeding earlier this year because of warm weather and recent rains,” said Craig Levy, head of the Arizona Department of Health Service’s Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases section. “While we can’t predict how severe the West Nile season will be this year, Arizonans should begin taking steps to protect themselves against mosquito bites.

“West Nile is just as serious this year as it was in previous years; it will still cause serious illness and probably even deaths,” Levy said.

Health officials found the mosquito samples collected April 26 by local health workers near Clarkdale in Yavapai County positive for West Nile virus at the Arizona State Health Laboratory, indicating this year’s first appearance of virus in Arizona.

Since the first arrival of West Nile virus in Arizona in 2003, more than 650 residents have been infected with the disease, and at least thirty-five deaths have been attributed to the deadly virus in the state, including 11 last year.

The Arizona state and local health officials are urging residents to take precautions against the disease. For the purpose the state has established a web site, www.westnileaz.com, and a toll-free number, 1-800-314-9243, (Metro Phoenix: 602-364-4500), which will provide additional information about the virus.

The virus is also reported in two areas of Houston, prompting health workers to act swiftly. Workers from the county's Mosquito Control Division started fogging storm sewers in Manchester Place outside the East Loop and the Kennedy Heights area around Acres, Cullen and Almeda Genoa.

The department started with those areas because mosquito-attracting netting placed in the sewers there last week trapped more than 1,000 mosquitoes in a day, department spokeswoman Sandy Kachur said, while fewer insects were found in netting placed elsewhere in the county.

The Allegheny County Health Department is encouraging people to report dead birds in order to help them control the West Nile virus. The health worker are asking people to submit the dead birds for testing as part of this year's West Nile virus surveillance program, which began Monday.

The department already has treated 65 wetlands in 16 municipalities countywide, and has planned to drop pouches of mosquito growth inhibitor into 20,000 storm-water basins countywide.

Bingham County officials say as the virus is going to be just as bad this season or even worse, so they need everyone to vote for the mosquito abatement district on May 22, it's a small price to pay considering what some patient's doctor bills have been.

"We don't really have a lot of money to do a really good program, so we need the mosquito abatement to pass in order to generate some tax dollars, so we can really combat the mosquito," said Craig Rowland from Bingham County located in the U.S. state of Idaho where 1,000 cases of the West Nile Virus were reported last year.

Mosquitoes, as well as the virus, grow faster in warmer temperatures. By wearing long sleeves shirts and pants and spraying their clothing with repellent that contains the chemical DEET or picaridin, individuals can protect themselves from mosquito bites. The repellents are important in the early morning and evening hours when mosquito activity is at its highest.

It makes lot of sense to take precautionary action since the virus has claimed 17 people in Canada from 2002 through 2005. Presently, there is no cure, no medications, no specific treatments and no human vaccine. Prevention is the best cure from this subtle virus, caused by the innocuous looking mosquito.