West Nile Virus has found its way to Maine after a hot and humid summer. Elders and infants are most susceptible to serious illness, though most people who get West Nile recover from it. How does it spread, and what can you do to protect yourself from this mosquito-borne illness?
West Nile Virus is not spread by person-to-person contact. It’s actually spread most effectively by birds. Mosquitoes carry West Nile. When they bite an infected bird, it contracts the disease and flies someplace new, and gets bitten by another mosquito, who then can carry the virus to other birds (or humans). While some mosquitoes only travel a few hundred feet, most of the species that bite us can travel 1-3 miles from their breeding pool. Birds can obviously travel all around the state, and spread the disease along their flight paths. West Niles Virus has been in New England all summer and was recently found in mosquito breeding test pools in York and Cumberland counties.
How can you avoid West Nile Virus? keep from being bitten!
- Avoid being outside during the big mosquito meal times of dawn and dusk.
- Wear long pants and long-sleeve shirts in light colors.
- Don’t wear perfume.
- Use insect repellent (Deet) in 10% to 30% concentrations, depending on how long you’ll be outside. Oil of lemon-eucalyptus is nearly as effective as Deet.
- Use yellow lights (not incandescent, which attract insects) on your deck.
- Set up a fan on your deck to take advantage of the mosquito’s weak wing power. Blow them away.
- Mosquitoes are fairly weak flyers, and fly about 1-1.5 mph, so keeping a brisk pace during your walk should help.
Prevent Breeding
You can’t keep birds away, but you can control mosquito breeding. Clean up any water-containing items around your property, empty standing water in old plant pots, and turn over the kid’s wading pool. Empty and refill bird baths every few days. Put holes in the bottom on recycling bins, so that they’ll drain. Cover your rain barrel so mosquitoes can’t get into lay eggs. Make sure there are no pools of water in the boat cover, on the tarp over the woodpile or the covers of lawn furniture or the barbeque.
Disease Symptoms
Although no vaccine exists for West Nile Virus, the symptoms can be treated. There have been more than 25 deaths out west (mostly in Texas) but so far, we haven’t had anyone in Maine with a verified case of West Nile.
Symptoms include fever, headache, rash and conjunctivitis, but can be more severe to include high fevers, headache, still necks and disorientation and weakness.
West Nile and other mosquito-borne illnesses are worrisome, and you should take sensible precautions. But don’t let the worry keep you from enjoying the outdoors! In fact, tick-borne illnesses is much more prevalent in Maine, and insect repellents like Deet will keep ticks away, too.