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May 10, 2008 5:17 pm US/Central
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Efforts Begun To Curb Mosquitoes, West Nile Virus
(WCCO)
As the weather slowly gets warmer we will start to spend more time outside, and so will the mosquitoes.
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District is treating twenty thousand wetlands around the Twin Cities. Crews hope to cut down on cases of West Nile Virus later this summer.
Since 2004, the number of reported West Nile cases has gone up each year, shooting up to 101 human cases last year. The weather will play a big role in determining the effectiveness of the treatments.
The biting and annoyance mosquitoes provide pale in comparison to what a mosquito can do if it carries the West Nile Virus.
"It's not something you want to have, because you end up in the hospital, you can end up with some long-term neurological damages and we've had people die from West Nile Virus in Minnesota," said Jim Stark with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District.
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District is celebrating its 50th year in business, the last seven of which have been spent battling West Nile. Their most effective way of taking a bite out of the virus is to take flight before the mosquitoes can.
In what has become a spring ritual, helicopters are filled with a bacteria called BTI, which they dump into wetlands around the Twin Cities. It's not harmful to the environment, but when mosquito larvae eat it they die.
"It's a soil bacteria and they can't digest it and it ends up, through a process, dissolves their gut lining," described Kurt Pennuto, also with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District.
When the weather cooperates, the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District will fly seven helicopters at one time. If all goes well, those helicopters will treat about 9,000 acres a day.
Ultimately, it's the weather that will decide how effective West Nile will be this summer. While more rain means more mosquitoes, the virus actually thrives in the hot, dry days of July and August.
"Hot weather, the virus does very well within the birds and very well within the mosquitoes. If we get another hot, dry summer we will probably see more West Nile Virus activity," said Stark.
Birds like blue jays and crows are the most likely to get the West Nile Virus from a mosquito.
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control Districts said it is important for people to get rid of any standing water they might have around their home. Standing water that you find in empty buckets or old tires is the perfect environment for mosquito larvae to grow.
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