Dead bird positive for West Nile
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Aug. 20, 2002
Lauderdale County supervisors voted Monday to beef up countywide mosquito control after a dead bird found in the county tested positive for the West Nile Virus.
Supervisors declared a state of emergency, allowing them to immediately buy two spraying machines and pesticide to control the county's mosquito population.
The supervisors' move was the latest development in a summer-long West Nile scare in which 55 people have been identified with the mosquito-borne virus in Mississippi.
No human cases have been reported in Lauderdale County. The closest case was reported last week in Quitman, when Mayor Tommy Blackburn said a city resident tested positive for West Nile.
The virus also has been blamed for two deaths in Mississippi, one in Hinds County and the other in Madison County.
Most of the West Nile cases in Mississippi are West Nile encephalitis, a potentially deadly inflammation of the brain. West Nile symptoms are similar to the flu.
The state Health Department continues to advise people to avoid mosquitoes whenever possible and to use protective measures, such as mosquito repellent containing 10 percent to 30 percent of DEET for adults and 10 percent or less for children.
Butler and state Health Department officials had no details on the dead bird that tested positive for the virus, including the type of bird and the place where it was found.
Nevertheless, news of the bird prompted county action. Butler said he may meet with the county engineer and some supervisors as early as today to decide when and how spraying will be done.
In a letter dated Monday, 4th District U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows urged President Bush to declare a state of emergency in Mississippi and to approve funding requested by the governor to "control the state's West Nile Virus epidemic."
According to the state Health Department, the latest figures give Mississippi a case rate of 1.9 per 100,000 people, three times higher than New York's 1999 outbreak of West Nile Virus in which 62 cases and seven deaths were reported.
WEST NILE VIRUS
Mississippi's total West Nile Virus infections according to the Mississippi State Department of Health includes:
Birds: 108 in 43 counties, including 14 in Hinds County, 10 in Jackson County, nine in DeSoto County and one in Lauderdale County
Horses: 45 in 24 counties, including six in Rankin County, four each in Hinds and Madison counties, and three each in Hancock, Jackson, Pike and Washington counties.
Humans: 55 cases confirmed or probable in 20 counties; 34 confirmed, including 16 in Hinds County and four in Pike County.
Mosquitoes: Two mosquito pools in Coahoma County and one each in Hinds and Washington counties.
