Combating West Nile Virus –

Local Health Officials Poised To Implement Larvicide Program

By Steve Bigham

Town workers later this week will begin dropping briquettes containing bacterial larvicide into local catch basins in an effort to cut down on the mosquito population. The mosquito-killing mission is a preventative measure against the West Nile Virus, which was detected in Stamford late last month.

The project is believed to be the first of its kind in Newtown.

“This is truly precautionary. There is no evidence of the West Nile Virus [in Newtown],” noted Health District Director Mark Cooper. “We are attempting to head off the next brood of mosquitoes at the pass. We’re attempting to reduce the mosquito population for August and September, which is a more critical time for us.”

Last year, traces of the West Nile Virus and Eastern Equestrian Encephalitis were discovered for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in and around New York City (where six people died) during the late summer months. It was also found in two species of mosquitoes trapped in Greenwich and in the brain tissue of many crows in coastal Connecticut from Greenwich to Madison.

The West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne viral infection that can cause inflammation of the brain. It is named after the West Nile district of Uganda where the virus was first isolated in 1937. The elderly are most susceptible to this virus. West Nile is spread to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. A mosquito is infected by biting a bird that carries the virus.

“If it begins to move in this year, we will have been ahead of the game and there will be less mosquitoes to act as the vector to humans,” Mr Cooper said.

Unlike the sprays used in lower Fairfield County and Westchester County, the donut-shaped larvicides are non-chemical. According to Mr Cooper, the donuts are made up of a natural bacteria, which, when dissolved, are eaten by mosquito larvae. In time, the bacteria succeed in breaking down the larvae’s intestinal wall, killing it.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said he is awaiting the go-ahead from the health district. When it comes, probably Thursday or Friday, he will send his men out on their regular snow plowing routes armed with the donut-shaped larvicide briquettes. Half of the town’s 4,000 catch basins – prime spots for mosquito breeding –will get a larvicide briquette.

“The game plan is to drop them when these rains cease,” Mr Cooper said. “These areas where there is standing water become breeding places for mosquitoes.”

The larvicides were provided to the town under a $9,000 grant from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Statistics gathered by the Connecticut DEP offer more evidence that residents should not panic about West Nile-like encephalitis. The likelihood of being bitten by an infected mosquito is quite rare, according to information supplied by the DEP. Only about 1 in 1,000 mosquitoes are infected, so even if a person living in an area where West Nile-like virus has been reported is bitten, “They are not likely to get sick,” said Michele Sullivan, DEP Communications Director.

This week, the town’s health district was distributing pamphlets on the West Nile Virus and advice on how residents can protect themselves and their pets from mosquito bites. For more information, contact the Health District at 270-4291.

Dr Theodore Andreadis, chief medical entomologist for the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, heads up the state’s efforts to monitor mosquitoes. Throughout Connecticut, state entomologists are putting up mosquito trapping stations in an effort to find out what is out there. This year, state workers are monitoring a trap in the Dodgingtown section of town.

Mr Cooper urged residents to eliminate any stagnant water around their homes and to use bug repellants when engaged in outdoor activities. (See separate story on this week’s Health page.)