Dealing with West Nile virus

Dave Brooks

It’s just another day on the job for Robert Cummings.

Moments after pulling his white Orange County Vector Control truck

into the southern access point of the Bolsa Chica, the field

biologist opens the rear cab of his rig and begins compiling his lab

equipment to collect samples of one of the most feared buzz-diseases

of recent years -- the West Nile virus.

For someone who is about to interact with two dozen potentially

contaminated birds, Cummings seems calm and unconcerned. He puts on

the standard latex gloves for protection, but before he crawls into

the cage to collect the trapped birds, Cummings simply armors himself

with an oversized hat -- he doesn’t want any of the birds to relieve

themselves on his head.

West Nile Virus, a disease carried by birds that can be passed on

to humans through mosquitoes, is believed to have spread all over

Orange County. While reports of West Nile have generated a wave of

panic, few people realize that the disease is being locally fought by

just a few dozen people like Cummings, who spend most of their days

collecting samples, spraying for mosquitoes and educating the public.

The problem seems particularly precarious in Huntington Beach’s

wetlands area. Cummings and others from Vector Control have been

testing area birds for West Nile Virus for the past six years and had

not come up with any cases -- until now.

In August, nine birds in the Bolsa Chica area tested positive for

the disease. And so far eight Orange County residents have been

diagnosed with the disease and one has died.

“We are finding more cases now in the last few weeks than I have

found over the entire length of my 20-year career,” he said. “Plus,

symptoms only show up in about 15% to 20% of those infected, so there

could be a lot more people walking around with the disease than we

realize.”

Cummings also pointed out that only about one in every 150 people

who become infected with the disease actually die from it, usually

the elderly or individuals with weak immune systems.

While West Nile has been commonly reported in Africa, the Middle

East and Eastern Europe since the 1940s, it didn’t make its way into

the United States until 1999, likely by exotic birds brought into the

country.

The spread of the disease has made headlines, and even served as a

small financial boon for vector control. Earlier this month, Orange

County homeowners overwhelmingly approved a small property tax

increase to fund ongoing pest eradication efforts.

“We’re planning to dedicate about $750,000 to fighting West Nile,”

Vector Control Public Information Officer Mike Hearst said.

City Council candidate Jim Moreno said he plans to make West Nile

one of his main campaign issues.

“When birds start falling out of the sky and the first person in

the city gets sick, there’s going to be a real panic and we have very

little in place to notify people about what to do,” he said. “We are

a city surrounded by canals, but all we have is these guys running

around in small vector control trucks trying to combat the thing.”

“That’s really all Huntington Beach can do as a city to combat

West Nile,” Councilwoman Debbie Cook said. “We’re really not tasked

to deal with this ... there are many problems in the city, issues

like block walls and infrastructure that don’t make sexy stories but

still need to be dealt with. It doesn’t seem like the attention this

issue is getting is really based on priority but based on what sells

ads.”

Efforts to control West Nile is really a two-front battle,

Cummings said.

“As a public health agency, we’re doing our best to prevent this,

but there’s definitely a crucial component that involves public

involvement and personal responsibility,” he said.

Nearly 1/3 of all mosquito nesting areas occur on private

property, Cummings said, whether it’s in an abandoned swimming pool

or pond, or just a small puddle of water from an empty pot or street

crack that goes unnoticed.

Monitoring one’s own property for these nesting areas is crucial,

he said, but residents must also avoid contact with mosquitoes. Check

the screens on windows and doors and fix any small holes, Cummings

advises, and always wear long sleeves and pants along with bug spray

whenever hiking in areas thought to contain mosquitoes.

“People need to do their best to stay alert and be conscious of

the susceptibility of their homes,” Hearst said. “We think this will

be much less of a problem in two years -- these things tend to go in

cycles. But right now, we’re just in the beginning of it.”

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at dave.brooks@latimes.com.