Preventing West Nile virus

Marisa O’Neil

West Nile fears have prompted a flood of calls from people worried

about contracting the mosquito-borne illness.

Public services departments for both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa

have asked residents to clear their properties of any standing water

that could breed mosquitoes. But, city workers said, they’re also

doing their best to control mosquito populations.

“It does help to keep the neighborhood clean,” said Costa Mesa

City Engineer Fariba Fazeli. “But there’s only so much the city can

do.”

People should be concerned about standing water but don’t need to

panic with every little puddle, said Michael Hearst, spokesman for

Orange County Vector Control District. It takes two days to two weeks

for mosquitoes to breed and grow in standing water.

“If [a pool of water] dries up once a week, it’s fine,” Hearst

said.

Even creeks that look green and scummy may not pose a risk, he

said. Vector control treats areas throughout the county with mosquito

fish, bacteria or oils that prevent mosquito breeding.

People should, however, either get rid of standing water when they

see it or report it to the city or vector control, he said.

Residents have called to report areas of standing water to code

enforcement and public services departments, Fazeli said. City crews

then do their best to get out and take care of the problem, she said.

“When we get a complaint, we send somebody right away,” she said.

“If something temporary can be done, we call city crews ... they do a

temporary fix. But sometimes they can’t do a temporary fix.”

In those cases they can treat the water or call the Orange County

Vector Control District, she said.

Newport Beach handles resident concerns the same way, said Dave

Niederhaus, the city’s general services director.

People can also help control the water issue by not over watering

their yards and by moving their cars on street sweeping days, workers

from both cities said.

So far, seven people in Orange County have contracted West Nile

Virus according to the Orange County Health Care Agency’s website.

One of those cases, a 57-year-old Fullerton man, was fatal.

Most people bitten by infected mosquitoes do not show any symptoms

of the virus. Infection occurs in fewer than 1% of those bitten by an

infected mosquito.

One crow in Newport Beach and two in Costa Mesa are known to have

died from the disease. Birds do not transmit the virus to humans.