Visalia
- Supervisors Allen Ishida and Mike Ennis are pushing a plan for an organized
mosquito abatement district on the south part of the county, fearing the potential
widening of West Nile Virus where there are no vector control efforts.
About half the county has no ongoing effort to eradicate mosquitoes implicated in the spread of the disease.
“Our biggest problem is we are next to Kern County that has the highest incidence of West Nile,” says Ishida. “Our effort will be to have a district that covers all the way from Three Rivers down to the south part of the county including Porterville and up to the national forest area,” he says. “We will be asking the cities of Porterville and Lindsay to support the plan.”
Ishida says in the end “it will be up to the voters” if the plan moves forward requiring residents to support the district with a “very affordable” assessment, he says.
“We hope we could be operational in as little as a year, but more likely in two years.”
Delta Vector Control fights the spread of mosquitoes in Visalia, Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi, Woodlake and Exeter. Tulare has its own district. But neither Lindsay, Porterville, nor Springville has a program. The agency dates from 1904 when malaria was devastating the Central Valley.
Today, the problem is the West Nile Virus that can be fatal to animals and humans.
Last year, there were 10 human cases of West Nile Virus reported in the county, 38 dead birds with the disease, 23 mosquito samples testing positive and 27 chickens found to have the disease. Things were worse in Kern County where 140 cases of West Nile in humans were reported, including four deaths. There was one fatality reported in 2007 in Kings and one in Tulare County.
West Nile virus (WNV) is a potentially serious illness. Experts believe WNV is established as a seasonal epidemic in North America that flares up in the summer and continues into the fall.
The easiest and best way to avoid WNV is to prevent mosquito bites.
About one in 150 people infected with WNV will develop severe illness, says the Center for Disease Control. The severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. These symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent.
Most often, WNV is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds. Infected mosquitoes can then spread WNV to humans and other animals when they bite.
People over the age of 50 are more likely to develop serious symptoms of WNV if they do get sick and should take special care to avoid mosquito bites.
People typically develop symptoms between 3 and 14 days after they are bitten by the infected mosquito.
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