Davis ramping up for battling W. Nile

Six chickens and one horse in Davis County contracted West Nile virus in 2005, and the County Mosquito Abatement District is readying to fight mosquitoes that carry the disease this season.

Twelve sentinel chicken flocks are stashed in secret locations throughout the county, and district officials already have a baseline blood sample from the flocks.

"We're gearing up for a very serious year as far as mosquitoes go for West Nile virus," said the abatement district's manager, Gary Hatch.

District officers have begun trapping mosquitoes in 13 locations around the county and storing them in a freezer, Hatch told Davis County Board of Health recently. All dead birds officers have investigated to date have tested negative for West Nile.

But they are finding large number of mosquitoes, Hatch said. Mosquitoes that bite during the day have been coming out, but the mosquitoes that carry the virus — Culex tarsallis — usually come out at dawn and dusk. Another species, Culex pipiens, tends to sneak into homes and bite during the night.

Hatch said he expects to see the population of virus-carrying mosquitoes peak in late July or early August, but to keep populations down, the abatement district plans to spray 420,000 acres of ground during the spring and summer.

In 2005, the district sprayed 92,000 acres of marsh land by airplane, he said.

The Davis County Health Department makes up another prong of the fight against mosquitoes. Its public awareness campaign will urge residents to use mosquito repellent with DEET, wear long sleeves and not spend too much time outside at dawn and dusk.

"It's worked so far," Hatch said. "We haven't had a confirmed (human) case of West Nile virus within Davis County yet."

Davis County residents can register ornamental ponds and pools — of which there are about 1,300 countywide with the abatement district and request a spray visit to kill mosquito larvae. Residents can also request mosquito fish, which have an appetite for larvae.

Clinton city officials, in the city's most recent newsletter, urged residents to register their ornamental ponds and pools with the abatement district.

"We almost doubled our number of pools in Clinton in two days," Hatch said.

"Hopefully, we'll have a good mosquito year," he said. "Hopefully good for me and not for them."

---

E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com