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West Nile Virus, a threat no more

By Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 8/1/18

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West Nile Virus, a threat no more


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – On July 20, Clay County residents were informed that a sampling of mosquitos tested positive for West Nile Virus and while that might sound scary at first, the situation was always under control.

The Ebola outbreak that occurred a few years ago followed by the Zika outbreak after that has since slowed significantly in America, had millions of Americans, and naturally, citizens of Clay County, thinking twice about going outside.

Since then, many find themselves worried about the danger of mosquitoes and their ability to transfer diseases, viruses and more. Clay County can now worry a little less after officials stepped mosquito control efforts last year when they hired Louisiana-based Mosquito Control Services, which was founded in 1985.

While Mosquito Control Services has regional offices throughout much of the Southeast. In Clay County, Entomologist Jessi Howard serves as the overseer of operations for the company’s East Coast program in Georgia and Florida.

Howard is currently training fellow employee Sarah McInnis to manage daily operations in Clay County. Her team, along with the help of surrounding teams located in other counties, is responsible for ensuring the West Nile Virus found in a sampling of mosquitoes located in Keystone Heights didn’t make its way across the county. Because of their work, which included initiating a response protocol involving elevated and targeted larviciding and truck spraying in the general area where the positive sample was collected, re-tests of mosquitos in the area showed negative for West Nile Virus. Nobody in Clay County was diagnosed with the virus during this time either.

“Anything that is disease capable is identified and sent for testing,” Howard said. “As we saw recently, when we do identify a disease presence, it’s not really a reason for alarm – we’re proactive and we caught it early. We then followed our emergency protocol where we basically quarantined that health risk. We achieved our goal as the tests are now coming back as negative.”

This was the company’s first documented health risk in Clay County and according to Howard, it went as well as expected.

“We executed [this health risk] pretty well for our first time in Clay County, but the goal there also is to not just identify the disease and then act appropriately, but educate the public as well,” Howard said.

Howard said public education is a major facet of mosquito safety. When the West Nile Virus was found, Mosquito Control Services delivered door hangers to houses in the area that alerted the homeowner, worked with the news media to get the word out and worked with multiple agencies to ensure the community knew not only what was being done, but how to best protect themselves.

The recent rains have also forced officials to remain aware of the threat that standing water poses in the world of mosquito control.

Mosquito Control Services has been working day and night to stay on top of the problem. During the day, a significant number of hours goes into the research of those pesky insects that plague just about all of Florida.

Howard said the company has numerous functions here in Clay County – surveillance, disease-testing, potential breeding site identification and inspection, appropriate larvicide treatment, chemical adulticide truck applications and community education.

“Bugs don’t respect county lines, so we work with agencies outside of Clay County and within the area, and we are constantly working to trap, test, research and suppress [the mosquito population],” Howard said.

Hidden within Clay County, although mindful eyes might see them, are four different kinds of traps – although they have plenty more at their disposal – used to trap mosquitoes that Mosquito Control Services will then test to identify things such as West Nile Virus although more commonly, the mosquitoes turn out to be free of health risks.

Surprisingly, that itch might not be what you think. Although the common vernacular is “mosquito bite,” it’s technically not a bite at all: it’s a proboscis penetration. A proboscis is an elongated sucking mouthpiece that is defined as typically tubular and flexible, and commonly found on mosquitoes and many other insects as well.

Before the proboscis penetration, the mosquito – which is female because only the females do this – spit on your skin. Spit acts as a numbing agent and the itch that follows isn’t a reaction to the proboscis entering your skin, but rather, it’s a reaction to the numbing spit. According to Howard, this spit is the mosquitoes’ way of sucking blood from the skin without the victim’s knowledge. Without this numbing agent, it’s easy to imagine that a mosquito “bite” might pack more punch.

To prevent these unruly itches, Howard said it’s important that people prevent the buildup of standing water, the ideal place for a mosquito to lay eggs. Mosquitoes only needs about a bottle cap’s worth of water to lay eggs, of which there are typically 200. By removing standing water from your premises, you’re removing the chance that another 200 mosquitoes call your stomping grounds their home.

The removal of standing water is just one of the 4 Ds that Clay County Public Information Officer Kimberly Morgan said Clay County people should follow: Dusk/Dawn, Deet, Dress, Drain. Dusk and Dawn are the times when mosquitoes are most active. If you’re out during these periods of the day, the chance of a mosquito “bite” are very much heightened. Deet is the spray that every mom in the county tells their kid to wear. It doesn’t kill the mosquito, but it instead makes you invisible to its antenna, which is typically how mosquitoes find their prey. Everyone should dress appropriately – mosquitoes can’t “bite” your skin if a long-sleeved shirt and pants are covering it so if you’re going into a mosquito zone, think about wearing some layers. The, residents are urged to drain all standing water.

Howard wants all residents in Clay County to know that while the West Nile Virus is dangerous and can be frightening, Mosquito Control Services is constantly working to remain proactive and on top of the situation so that when occurrences do happen, such as in Keystone Heights, things are business as usual – they trap, research, test, suppress and test again to ensure the risk is gone.