West Nile virus fight to be ramped up this summer
Pastor Dale Morgan
West Nile virus fight to be ramped up this summer*
By John Gale
Tuesday, June 10th 2008, 4:00 AM
Crews spray insecticide to kill West Nile-carrying mosquitoes.
The Bronx is in the thick of West Nile breeding season.
But take heart. City health officials say they've gotten a grip on the
situation.
At the outset of the 10th mosquito season since the deadly virus first
struck New York, the Health and Mental Hygiene Department is again
taking measures to keep residents from being infected.
From citywide trapping and testing of mosquitoes to applying
anti-breeding larvicides on standing bodies of water, the department has
been hard at work.
"We're focusing very hard on prevention," said Dr. Edgar Butts,
assistant commissioner of the department's Bureau of Veterinary and Pest
Control Services. "We use all of the tools available to prevent West
Nile from becoming present."
West Nile first appeared in the Western Hemisphere here in New York in
the summer of 1999, when 45 people were infected, four fatally.
West Nile still remains a threat. Since 1999, 23 of the 159 cases in the
city ended in death.
"We've been very successful recently," Butts said.
Part of the department's success comes from adapting its policies to
maximize efficiency.
Instead of using solicited reports of dead birds as it had for the last
several years, it recently determined that trapping live mosquitoes was
more effective in detecting West Nile, so the department will no longer
take the bird reports.
The mosquito traps have been placed in more than 70 locations citywide,
10 of them in the Bronx.
Butts said that West Nile has yet to be detected anywhere in the city
this year, but the first infected mosquitoes typically show up in late
June or July.
The department plans to aggressively remove standing water throughout
the city. For permanent areas of standing water, such as in sewer
systems and catch basins, the water will be treated with larvicides that
are not toxic to humans.
"We want to have as few adult mosquitoes as possible," Butts said.
All catch basins in the Bronx and throughout the city will be treated
with larvicide three times between June and August. In nonresidential
areas inaccessible for ground application, the larvicide will be applied
by aerial spraying.
In the Bronx, the large marshy areas of Pelham Bay Park will be treated
six times by helicopter between June 15 and Sept. 15.
If the department determines that a significant risk of West Nile exists
to humans, at-risk areas will be treated with low levels of the
"adulticide" Sumithrin, a pesticide that kills adult mosquitoes, with
human residents given at least 24 hours' notice.
According to a 2001 study, the pesticide does not pose a significant
risk to humans, especially when compared with the risk of not dealing
with the virus-carrying mosquitoes.
"We apply a very, very small amount of adulticide, and we ask people to
go indoors, and we do community outreach to let people know when we're
going to treat," Butts said. "We're very careful."
Last year, the department conducted four sprays in the Bronx between
Aug. 15 and Oct. 1.
Butts stressed that people should also do what they can to limit
vulnerability to the virus, with the elderly particularly vigilant, as
people over 65 are the most susceptible to it.
However, victims' ages have ranged from 1 to 93, so all residents should
take precautions to clear their property of standing water, such as in
unused tires and cans.
The department recommends residents keep rain gutters clean and
unclogged, clean and chlorinate swimming pools and make sure doors and
windows have tightly-fitting screens.
"People cannot become complacent with West Nile," Butts said. "It's
still there."
For more information, call 311, or visit nyc.gov/health/wnv