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City and health department officials again urged residents to take precautions with mosquitoes following a recent diagnosis of West Nile virus by a resident of downtown Tuscaloosa.
A man living at Audubon Place was diagnosed with the disease at the end of August, prompting Original City president Kelly Fitts to send an email to alert his neighbors.
Mr Fitts said that the diagnosis of his neighbor, who is now recovering at home, led her to warn the residents of the city center as a precaution.
"An infection can turn into encephalitis that has lasting adverse effects," Fitts said in the e-mail, "so please take this seriously."
Tommy Dockery, director of emergency preparedness for the Alabama District Health Unit in the west central department of the health department, said he could only confirm that the department was investigating a possible West Nile in its region of 11 counties.
This region includes the counties of Bibb, Chilton, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Perry, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Sumter and Walker. Dockery said the federal privacy regulations have prevented him from locating the county where the West Nile virus investigation is taking place.
He said, however, that no confirmed cases of West Nile virus had been reported in this region in 2018.
"Not that I know," said the 23-year veteran of the department.
"One of the most important things to do is prevent," Dockery said.
That's the message from City Hall, which reiterates the precautions it's been advocating last month after a Forest Lake resident contracted the West Nile virus last year and that The Mobile County Health Department said it used seven sentinel chickens to detect mosquito-borne diseases. the community had been tested positive for the disease.
West Nile virus first appeared in the United States in 1999 in upstate New York. It has been transmitted by mosquitoes that bite infected birds and carry this disease to mammals, such as humans and horses.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, 20% of people bitten by an infected mosquito will develop fever and other flu-like symptoms. And of these, about one in 150 will develop a serious – and sometimes fatal – illness.
Although humans and horses can suffer from the infection, the disease can not be transmitted from a mammal to a mammal, and taking steps to limit mosquito exposure can help reduce the risk of infection. probability of contracting the disease.
In 2017, Joe Patrick, a resident of Forest Lake, nearly died after contracting the West Nile virus.
Although waterfowl are less likely to carry the virus than other birds, such as blue jays or robins, Patrick suspects that he was bitten by a mosquito that had contracted the disease from Muscovy ducks and Canada geese .
In August, the city's Environmental Services Department launched an awareness campaign to alert locals on how to reduce mosquito populations.
With the City's hiring freeze for Exercise 2018, which reduces the number of workers available to perform regular mosquito sprays, these teams now only respond to areas where complaints are filed.
City Hall spokeswoman Deidre Stalnaker said Audubon Place had not been treated for mosquitoes before the resident's diagnosis, but Fitts said her neighborhood had been sprayed since then.
Still, city authorities and the health department are urging residents to make their own efforts to reduce mosquito exposure.
The CDC has a website – cdc.gov/features/stopmosquitoes – with tips to limit the exposure. The organization also recommends:
• Remove stagnant water where mosquitoes might lay eggs.
• As mosquitoes lay eggs near the water, make a habit of emptying and scrubbing once a week, flipping over, covering or throwing anything that contains water (tires buckets, planters, toys, ponds, flower saucers or garbage cans). .
• Cover tightly with water storage containers, such as buckets, cisterns or rain barrels, so that mosquitoes can not get inside to lay eggs. For containers without a lid, use wire mesh with smaller holes than an adult mosquito.
• Use larvicides to treat large containers of water that will not be used for drinking and that can not be covered or dumped.
• For those with septic tanks, repair cracks or gaps and cover vents or open plumbing pipes with plugs or trellises with holes smaller than an adult mosquito.
• Mosquitoes rest in dark, damp places, such as under garden furniture or under the shelter or garage. Use outdoor insecticide sprays to kill them here.
Reach Jason Morton at [email protected] or 205-722-0200.
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