ALL OF BRAZOS COUNTY IS POSITIVE FOR THE WEST NILE VIRUS
Each year, a number of birds, horses and mosquitoes in the Brazos Valley test positive for West Nile virus. On occasion, there are human cases diagnosed.
The City of Bryan, in close partnership with the Brazos County Health Department, works hard to control the mosquito population in our neighborhoods.
Below is a collection of information that should be helpful in protecting your family against West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses.
In the beginning
Each year, city employees licensed by the Texas Department of Health work to eradicate the mosquito larvae population.
Mosquito pesticide blocks, or dunks, continue to be placed in numerous areas of standing water identified by city staff and citizens. Another measure undertaken by the city, under the guidance of the Brazos County Health Department and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES), is hand-fogging culverts and other areas found to be infested by mosquitoes.
How long do the treatments last?
Mosquito dunks placed in standing water last about 30 days. Use of hand-held foggers, a much more labor-intensive method, produces a pesticide-enhanced fog that targets the active mosquito population. Although city resources are limited, we have responded promptly to areas suggested by the health department and TAES.
What can the city do for my property?
The City of Bryan can only treat areas of public property, which is why we encourage our citizens to conduct visual inspections of their private property, ensuring that no standing water is serving as a mosquito breeding ground. Property owners are also encouraged to purchase mosquito dunks from local businesses and apply them according to product instructions to areas of standing water.
Bryan's City Assistance to Neighborhood Abatement Programs, or CATNAP, has shown to be an effective way to curb mosquito populations in the city's neighborhoods.
How a CATNAP could help reduce mosquito populations A guide to City Assistance to Neighborhood Abatement Programs
Through Bryan’s Neighborhood Association Partnership Program, the city seeks to partner with neighborhood and homeowner associations in an effort to enhance the community and quality of life.
One program provides an opportunity for the city to partner with registered homeowner associations and neighborhood associations (NA) through a reimbursement to these recognized associations for the purchase of mosquito abatement products.
The goal of the program is to reduce the possibility of exposure to disease-carrying mosquitoes in an effort to minimize the contracting of serious diseases, such as West Nile virus. Realizing that the most-effective way to treat mosquitoes is for citizens to assist with eliminating or treating possible breeding grounds, the city will fund up to $200 per calendar year to officially-recognized homeowner or neighborhood associations.
Program regulations:
1. No more than two reimbursements per HOA or NA per calendar year.
2. Each request must include all original receipts and a formal, written request for reimbursement.
The president and secretary/treasurer must submit and sign each request.
Receipts must be within the calendar year of the request and no older than 90 days from the date of purchase.
A summary of where the abatement efforts will be, or are being, directed should be included with the request for reimbursement.
Requests for reimbursement, along with supporting documentation, should be turned in to Bryan’s Neighborhood/Youth Services manager.
3. The maximum reimbursement shall be $200 per year, and the minimum reimbursement per submittal shall be $25.
4. This program may end at any point without notification to any of the associations.
8 reasons why spraying pesticides is not the solution to West Nile virus (excerpted from UPdate, Spring 2003, by Rebecca Watson)
The so-called "solution" of spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes actually leads to bigger problems. Here are eight compelling reasons why spraying pesticides is not the answer to West Nile virus, or WNV.
Least-Effective Measure
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and other experts say that spraying or fogging is the least-effective means for slowing the spread of WNV-carrying mosquitoes. For fogging to have maximum effect, a mosquito has to be flying. Estimates are that fogging kills only about 10% of adult mosquitoes. A federal-provincial task force on WNV admits there is little evidence for the efficacy of insecticide spraying. Adult mosquitoes live only about two weeks, with new larvae hatching constantly. This means that spraying cannot be a one-shot operation, but needs to be repeated frequently if chosen as a means of control.
Predators Harmed, Mosquitoes Thrive
Aerial spraying or fogging is more harmful to mosquito predators than to mosquitoes. Since predators are farther up the food chain, they will take in higher amounts of pesticide. By decreasing mosquito predator populations, aerial spraying actually leads to increases in mosquito populations. Data from a study in New York State published in the Journal for Mosquito Control found that, after 11 years of insecticide spraying, the mosquito population increased 15 times.
Pesticide exposure also results in immune suppression in birds, which serve as the hosts for WNV. Birds exposed to organophosphate pesticides tend to suffer immune suppression, as do mammals, amphibians and other animals. This makes them less able to fight off viral and bacterial infections — the very opposite of what is needed. Once infected with WNV, birds are more likely to develop symptoms and to remain ill longer than if they had not been exposed. Thus, pesticide spraying leads to more frequent and longer infections and higher viral loads in birds, making it more likely they will spread the disease to mosquitoes. This increases the possibility of mosquitoes transmitting the virus to humans and other mammals.
Super Mosquitoes, Sicker Mosquitoes
For some reason, as yet unknown, mosquitoes exposed to pesticides are more likely to have WNV in their salivary glands and develop a damaged gut lining that becomes more porous, allowing WNV to pass through. Over a decade of insecticide spraying to control encephalitis in Florida has not been effective, and mosquitoes are now 15 times more likely to pass the disease. Mosquitoes, which have short life spans, go through many generations in a single year. Mosquitoes that survive pesticides are more likely to develop resistance to them. So aerial spraying contributes to the development of "super mosquitoes" that can only be killed by using higher amounts or different types of pesticides.
Immediate Human Health Effects
Immediate health effects on humans from exposure to sprayed pesticides are considerable. A letter from 26 prominent physicians and scientists in Quebec states, "Indiscriminate spraying of pesticides, especially in heavily populated urban areas, is far more dangerous to human health and the natural environment than a relatively small risk of West Nile Virus... Ironically, such spraying is especially dangerous to those with impaired immunity for whose 'protection' such spraying is mainly being done. Those individuals who are most vulnerable in this chemical action against mosquitoes include children, pregnant women, the elderly, chemically sensitive and immuno-suppressed individuals, such as patients with AIDS and cancer, and people suffering with asthma and other allergies.".
Long-Term Health Effects
Pesticides used in mosquito control can contribute to immune suppression in humans. A report from the World Resources Institute notes, "Impairment of the immune system by chemical pesticides can lead to allergies, auto immune disorders such as lupus and cancer. It may also lead to infections to which one may be normally resistant." People with weakened immune systems are the most vulnerable to WNV. Thus, in the long term, aerial spraying may actually increase the number of people who become seriously ill from WNV.
Long-Term Environmental Effects
Most of the pesticides presently used for mosquito control do not selectively target mosquitoes. Malathion, Naled and Resmethrin kill all insects. This includes hundreds of beneficial insect species that pollinate crops and keep pests under control. Malathion is known to contaminate water, and is classified as highly toxic to most species of fish. In 1999, 90% of adult lobsters in Long Island Sound were killed by malathion used on land. Fish kills in the thousands have been reported following mosquito spraying. Since some species of fish feed on mosquito larvae, this is doubly counterproductive.
Keep Risk in Perspective
West Nile virus is less dangerous than the flu. Only 1% of mosquitoes carry the WNV, even in places where WNV has been common for years. Less than 1% of people bitten by infected mosquitoes will have any symptoms, and most of those will be equivalent to a one-day flu or headache.
Taking a Long-Term Approach
We need a rational, long-term, problem-solving approach that is healthy for humans and the environment. Reducing mosquito breeding sites (standing water), known as source control, is the most-effective mosquito control method. Since adult mosquitoes seldom travel more than one kilometer, source control in a neighborhood can be extremely effective and quite non-toxic. Experts stress the value of source controls such as mechanical flushing of sewer catch basins, and introduction of dragonfly larvae in nearby ponds and lakes. Maintaining healthy mosquito predator populations is an important part of a mosquito control strategy. Eliminating mosquito larvae through predators and biological means and, if absolutely necessary, via pesticides, is far more effective than trying to kill adult mosquitoes. Ultimately, the most effective defense against WNV is a healthy ecosystem and a healthy immune system in humans, birds and other species.
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