LAKEPORT — Lake County is running well behind last year and 2004 in indicators for the presence of the West Nile virus, says Art Colwell, general manager of the county”s Vector Control agency.
The most encouraging sign is that to date no mosquito pools showing positive for WNV have been found. Last year by the end of August there were 24, which was 20 more than what was reported for 2004, the first year of monitoring in Lake County. Mosquitoes and birds are the principal carriers of the deadly virus, which in recent years has killed several people and horses in California.
“We are pleased that there are no hot spots of West Nile virus appearing in Lake County,” Colwell said. “We”re a little bit behind where we were in the first two years. I”m especially glad we don”t have any human cases or horse cases, which are what we”re trying to prevent. But if we have fewer indicators of activity that”s great as far as we”re concerned.”
Also by the end of August 2005, there were five horses infected by WNV in Lake County. This year, as was the case two years ago, there have been none.
Sentinel chickens in Upper Lake and Lower Lake showed no positive signs of WNV either.
In fact, the only category being monitored that has established positively the presence of WNV is three dead birds, which is still well behind the 13 that had been found by the end of August in 2004 and 18 for that same time last year.
“Our concern about that is that the three dead birds were in Nice, Kelseyville and Lakeport,” said Colwell. “That means there”s not just one area that is a source of concern.”
Statewide, 36 of 58 counties have reported WNV activity, according to the state”s West Nile virus Web site. As of Tuesday, it said there were 33 positive cases involving humans — 13 of them reported in the last week — and eight positive horse cases.
Colwell reminded that the end of August this year is still a long way off. ” … And after that we still have September and October to go,” he observed.
Colwell said that Lake County will not be sharing in a $1.5 million WNV-targeted appropriation by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to the state”s vector control districts to control mosquito populations.
“It”s for specific types of land that are managed by Fish and Game,” Colwell said. “None of those types of land (wildlife areas and wetlands mostly) are here in Lake County.”
Yolo County, which will receive $50,000 for vegetation management, is the closest site to Lake County sharing in the DFG funds.
To maintain a close watch on the virus, the California Department of Health is emphasizing the reporting of dead birds.
“This year, more than last, the state health department. is encouraging the reporting of all dead birds, whether the finder thinks it”s something the department wants to check for the WNV or not. If a bird shows signs it has been dead for 24 hrs (maggots, run over by a car, etc.), it may be considered not suitable for virus testing. But even if not suitable the health department wants people to call in on the West Nile virus hotline (877-WNV-BIRD) to report the dead bird anyway, because if there are clusters of dead birds in a particular area we need to be alerted that there is activity in that area, whether dead birds are suitable for testing or not.”
Colwell added “We”re still encouraging people to take precautionary measures wherever they can.”
Precautions include:
Inspect your property to ensure against standing water where mosquito larvae can form.
Be sure that doors and windows to your home have protective screens.
Wear full-length trousers and long-sleeve shirts and apply insect repellent when out of doors after dark, the time when mosquitoes are most active.
Make sure that each horse has the WNV vaccine and booster shots.
Contact John Lindblom at jlwordsmith@mchsi.com.
