West Nile virus arrived in California last year and soon
thereafter dead birds were discovered with the disease in San
Benito County. While the risks of contracting the virus aren’t
huge
– not one person in the county caught it last year – they’re
real, and experts are predicting that Northern California will
be
”
ground zero
”
for West Nile this year.
West Nile virus arrived in California last year and soon thereafter dead birds were discovered with the disease in San Benito County. While the risks of contracting the virus aren’t huge – not one person in the county caught it last year – they’re real, and experts are predicting that Northern California will be “ground zero” for West Nile this year.
That’s why it’s disappointing that the county is just now getting down to brass tacks on the issue of mosquito control. Mosquitos – which carry and transmit the virus – typically start feeding in late March and early April, according to experts, but San Benito County has yet to establish a concrete plan for mosquito abatement.
Supervisors on Tuesday directed the county staff to find out how much it would cost to have one of the neighboring mosquito abatement districts in Monterey County help us out during this mosquito season. That’s a good step, and likely a prudent one in these trying financial times. But it would have been much better to have a program – San Benito is one of the few California counties without a mosquito abatement district which collects property taxes to pay for mosquito suppression – of some sort in place by now. After all, we’ve known for at least a year that West Nile would be coming back this summer.
That’s not to say that nothing has been done. The county appointed a task force in May of 2004 to educate the public about the dangers of the virus and methods of prevention. The group also identified “hot spots” in the area where mosquitos breed, such as the Hollister sewer ponds, and took steps to reduce their numbers.
But the details on how to handle the mosquitos that carry the virus this year – whether it be creating a local mosquito abatement district, contracting with a nearby district, or handling it with county employees – are still being hashed out.
Now that they’ve got the ball rolling, the supervisors need to arrive at a plan of action soon. If Northern California is going to be ground zero for the virus this year, San Benito County must be prepared.
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