Mosquito Fogging Planned In Antioch After West Nile Virus Discovery
ANTIOCH (CBS SF) - Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District crews will spray an area of Antioch tonight after discovering a group of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus there, district officials said.
The "fogging" for adult mosquitoes is scheduled around 8:15 p.m. in an area bounded by Wilbur Avenue on the north, A Street on the west, East 18th Street on the south and Hillcrest Avenue on the east, according to the district.
District officials say a batch of mosquitoes in Antioch that recently tested positive for the virus prompted the fogging. Vector control district workers also recently found four dead birds that tested positive for the virus in the nearby communities of Martinez, Brentwood, Discovery Bay and Knightsen.
Recent high temperatures are raising the risk of West Nile virus throughout Contra Costa County, district officials said.
"The infection rate in mosquitoes in our county is quite high," said Steve Schutz, Ph.D., the district's scientific program manager. "Coupled with the weather, the risk of getting WNV is elevated."
The West Nile virus is transmitted via mosquito bites and can cause mild to severe flu-like symptoms including headache, fever and body aches. Although effects of the illness can last just a few days, even healthy people infected with West Nile virus have reported being ill for weeks, district officials said.
Since 2005, 39 cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Contra Costa County, including two people who died from the disease in 2006, according to the district. But district officials say the bulk of the cases go undiagnosed and unreported.
This year, 14 dead birds in the county and seven groups of mosquitoes have tested positive for the virus.
A full list of the latest West Nile activity in the county can be found at www.contracostamosquito.com/wnv--contra--2012.htm.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
