West Nile Mosquitoes Found In Newtown Traps

By John Voket

Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert, in cooperation with the state Department of Environmental Protection, announced Wednesday morning that the West Nile Virus  (WNV) had developed in one or more of the mosquitoes trapped during a seasonal collection of the insects in the area of Key Rock Road. She said Newtown was among the unlucky 13 communities in the state where these infected mosquitoes were trapped for testing.

“It’s not a comforting thing, but it’s not surprising either,” Ms Culbert told The Bee Wednesday.

The health director encouraged residents throughout the community to follow common sense procedures in the coming weeks including donning protective clothing, using mosquito repellant, and taking a few minutes to tour their properties looking for areas of standing water where the insects can breed.

“People need to be particularly careful at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active,” Ms Culbert said. “While people in relatively good health can withstand a potential infection, generally it’s the very young, very old, and those with compromised immune systems that have to be especially careful.”

According to the US Centers For Disease Control, 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. About one in 150 people infected with WNV will develop severe illness.

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.

Up to 20 percent of the people who become infected have symptoms such as fever, headache, and body aches, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Symptoms can last for as short as a few days, though even healthy people have become sick for several weeks.

Approximately 80 percent of people who are infected with WNV will not show any symptoms at all.

In a memo from her Newtown office, Ms Culbert outlined specific steps to better protect community members from contracting the virus . The following personal precautions are advised:

If you must be outdoors at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active, wear long sleeve shirts and long pants. Use insect repellent when outdoors and use them according to label instructions.

When using DEET (the active ingredient in many repellents) on children, use a product containing less than 10 percent DEET and wash treated skin after returning indoors.

According to Ms Culbert, the following measures are advised to help reduce mosquitoes around the home: Dispose of water-holding containers, such as ceramic pots, used tires, tire swings; clean clogged roof gutters; turn over objects that may trap water when not in use such as wading pools and  wheelbarrows; clean and chlorinate swimming pools, and when pools are covered do not let standing water accumulate; use landscaping to eliminate areas where water can collect on your property.

At this time the Health District is not advising the cancellation of any scheduled outdoor events. Ms Culbert, however, hopes residents will be on the lookout for any dead birds in the area, and requests residents report dead birds to her office by calling 270-4291 so town and state health department representatives can log and track all sightings.

Some birds meeting the state criteria will be tested for West Nile virus.

She said Newtown continues to utilize larvacide (Bti) in the town’s storm drainage system to lessen the number of mosquitoes.

A release from the Connecticut Department of Health said The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) collected the total of 26 WNV positive mosquito pools August 4–10. The 13 towns include Bethel, Cheshire, Franklin, Greenwich, Meriden, Milford, Newtown, Plainfield, Stamford, Westbrook, Weston, Wilton, and Windham. This season a total of 14 towns have been identified with WNV positive mosquitoes. Infected mosquitoes were previously trapped in Stamford and Stratford.

“These results represent clear evidence that West Nile virus has amplified to a level that represents an increasing threat of transmission to people throughout the state. With continued warm weather we should anticipate additional positive mosquitoes in these and other areas of the state,” said Theodore G. Andreadis, PhD, Chief Medical Entomologist, CAES.

Additional resources for information on West Nile virus  and mosquito management include: the Department of Public Health and the Department of Environmental Protection website at http://dep.state.ct.us or 24-hour toll-free recorded mosquito information, 866-968-5463; the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, www.caes.state.ct.us; the Department of Agriculture, www.state.ct.usdoag; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov.