ON THE RECORD/The West Nile Virus continues to spread

West Nile Virus has continued to spread across the United States and is now causing outbreaks in the Western states. This year, there have been about 500 cases of the virus and 14 deaths, with 274 cases and three deaths in Maricopa County, Ariz., alone. American City & County spoke with Douglas Hauth, public information officer for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, about the county’s efforts to curtail the spread of the virus.

Q: Is this the first year that West Nile Virus has been a problem in Maricopa County?

Hauth: Yes. It’s taking its normal course. The first year, you know it’s there. The second year you see the highest number of cases. This has been the trend all across the United States. We saw our first case in May. We got an early start [this year], and no one here can really put [his] finger on exactly how or why.

Q: Where are the mosquitoes breeding?

A: It’s all over Maricopa County. We see it in back yards, in abandoned swimming pools and in abandoned fountains. They breed in small puddles that are created along the side of the road when it rains. We have earthen dams, and when the water finally settles in there, they start breeding.

Q: What has the county done to prevent the spread of the virus?

A: We initiated in April a very extensive public education and information program on what individuals need to do, which is clean up your yard, get rid of all the water, and if you are going to go out at night, wear long-sleeved clothing and put DEET on. The second thing we’ve done is we’ve asked people to call to tell us where standing water can be located. When they do that, then our investigators go out. If they find a pond or [other water source], they treat it on the spot if they can. They either treat it with a light coat of mineral oil to kill the eggs and the mosquitoes, or they put a larvicide in there that will kill them. If it’s a large enough area, we’ll put little fish in there called Gambusia that eat the eggs and mosquitoes. As the numbers of human cases rise, we go out and put in special mosquito traps. When we start seeing high numbers of mosquitoes in our traps, then we start ground fogging. We take a truck out and pick out about a quarter-mile square area. That’s done late at night [because] that’s when mosquitoes come out. To date, we have spent $3 million on the entire West Nile Virus effort.

Q: How is information being distributed to residents?

A: Through all forms of media. Through pamphlets, brochures, and we go out and make public presentations. We have information on our Web site, and we have two telephone hotlines. I would say on an average, our Public Health hotline is receiving 40 or 50 calls a day, and the hotline for Environmental Services is up to over 100.

Q: Has the public been helpful in controlling the number of human cases?

A: Very much so. Arizona State University surveyed over 1,500 people, and 90 percent of the people who responded said they knew what West Nile was, they knew what DEET was and they knew what they needed to do [to protect themselves from the virus]. Of those who responded, 70 percent said that they had done something: so those are not bad odds. That contributes greatly to not having high numbers of people who are sick.