The West Nile virus may just be getting a hold on Colorado.
As the virus has crossed the United States in the last few years, about 65 percent of the cases occurred through mid-August.
“We may be only a third
of the way through the outbreak,” said Dr. Jim Dale of the Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment. “We hope this is
not true.”
To be on the safe side, the
department is launching a public information program called Kick the Can. The idea is to irradiate stagnant pools of water that mosquitoes can use for breeding.
The health department is asking county residents to check their own properties and eliminate the pests’ breeding grounds — no baby mosquitoes means no adult mosquitoes and no more spread of the West Nile virus.
The virus is spreading though. As of Aug. 19 in Jefferson County, there have been 13 human cases of West Nile and no deaths. Statewide there have been
450 human cases reported and seven deaths.
No horses have died in Jeffco, which has the state’s highest equestrian population, but five have tested positive for the virus. And 50 dead birds have been collected and have tested positive. The county health department has stopped testing dead birds found east of the hogback and asks the public not to submit any more. There have been no infected birds found dead west of Golden, Dale said.
In Larimer and Weld counties, where four human deaths have
occurred, a public health emergency has been declared. There is active spraying of adult mosquitoes. The situation has not gotten as bad in Jeffco.
“Right now we don’t think we have a public health emergency,” Dale said.
Much of the credit for that goes to the county and the municipalities for funding an integrated mosquito management program, he said.
The program has stymied mosquito larvae growth in ponds and lakes by placing larvicide in areas of standing water. Adult mosquitoes also are being caught to ensure the larvicide is working.
A third prong of the program, and perhaps the most important part, has been public education. Encouraging people to check their properties for standing water, to wear DEET (mosquito repellent when outdoors) and to wear clothing with long sleeves during dusk and dawn hours when mosquitoes come out to feed.
The program costs $500,000, with half the money coming from the county and the other half chipped in by all of the county’s municipalities.
The Kick the Can campaign, which will have an increased presence beginning Saturday, Aug. 23, will concentrate on specific areas. Dale said Jeffco health workers will visit 200 child-care centers, several mobile-home parks, at least 21 nursing homes, seven senior centers and 28 retirement homes. Public health officials say the elderly population is most at risk from West Nile.
The Kick the Can effort will also focus on those who work or play outdoors (like gardeners and golfers) and remind them of the risks and to take appropriate precautions.
“This campaign we are doing right now is to revitalize and energize the education curve,” Dale said.
That education will have to continue well into the future because the West Nile virus is here to stay, he said.
“The history of this disease is evolving,” Dale said. As it has moved across the country, the first year brings a weak rise in the number of cases.
The second year of the virus, which Colorado currently is experiencing, there is a dramatic rise in cases. In the third year, the numbers normally stabilize but the virus remains.
“West Nile will stay here forever here in Jefferson County,” Dale said. Through the years it will be cyclical and outbreaks will be periodic, “or we could just have low level cases for years to come,” he said.
Besides changing life among the state’s human population the state’s bird population may be dramatically changed. “We’re wiping out a lot of birds, there is no question about it,” Dale said. Among the affected populations are jays, crows, ravens and magpies as well as various birds of prey, which have eaten infected birds.