Spring has officially arrived, and while summer’s quick approach
incites thoughts of impending lazy days at the beach and months off
from school, San Benito County is preparing for what some health
officials say will be the unavoidable presence of West Nile virus
in Northern and Central California.
Hollister – Spring has officially arrived, and while summer’s quick approach incites thoughts of impending lazy days at the beach and months off from school, San Benito County is preparing for what some health officials say will be the unavoidable presence of West Nile virus in Northern and Central California.
Mosquito season is coming fast, and the county’s West Nile virus task force has been hard at work making sure the community is prepared for the arrival of the insects. In 2002, mosquitoes were discovered carrying the disease in southern California, causing some locals to worry the virus would make its way up-state. While San Benito County got away with only a few dead birds and no human infections last year, officials at the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California have predicted the virus will be centered in Northern California and the Central Valley this year. But county officials are working to create a plan that will fend off the potentially-deadly disease.
“Since this is a health issue, we really need to keep abreast of it,” board Chairman Reb Monaco told his fellow supervisors Tuesday morning.
First discovered in the United States in New York in 1999, WNV has quickly spread to 44 states and was detected in California in 2002. The mosquito-borne disease can infect both humans and animals, such as birds and horses. About 80 percent of people infected with the virus won’t have any symptoms, according to the state WNV Web site, severe symptoms in about one in every 150 infected humans can include convulsions, coma, vision loss and paralysis. Milder symptoms in up to 20 percent of infected humans can include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, according to the Web site.
“The West Nile virus is not going to disappear from our environment, so we have to have a program for abatement,” said Supervisor Anthony Botelho, who sits on the WNV task force. The board of supervisors voted Tuesday to authorize staff to seek help from the North Salinas Valley Mosquito Abatement District, the same organization helping Monterey County keep the pests at bay. “We’re getting a program in place, but we’re going to need the public’s help in identifying the signs of West Nile virus, the hazards. We all have the responsibility to take appropriate action. The government is not going be able to solve this on its own.”
The county is currently having two of its employees certified to identify the breeding grounds of WNV, such as standing water, as warmer weather approaches. After the employees assess the local risks and need for abatement, Botelho said, the county is hoping the NSVMAD will help coordinate a local abatement program.
So far county Health and Human Services is estimating costs for the two-person team, which will also apply larvicide to storm drains to kill mosquito eggs, will range between $109,000 and $119,000.
While Interim Health and Human Services Director Kathy Flores said Tuesday enlisting the assistance of the NSVMAD “would have some dollar amount attached,” staff currently has no estimates of what the cost could be.
But first and foremost, Botelho clarified, the county’s efforts will be focused on preventative education.
“If you have retention ponds, put a few mosquito fish out there. Put some DEET on exposed skin areas,” he said. “That’s the major emphasis in the state right now is public education. Because I don’t think anyone is very confident that we’ll eradicate mosquitoes.”
For more information online, visit www.westnile.ca.gov
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
