Mayor: Morgan City mosquito had small amount of West Nile

Over the weekend, Morgan City had its first mosquito pool test positive for the West Nile virus this year out of more than 160 pools tested, Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said Monday.
Out of an abundance of caution, the city’s mosquito control department will begin additional spraying in the affected area. The spraying regimen will follow the Centers for Disease Control protocol by spraying the affected area multiple nights in a row, a city news release stated.
Of the 162 pool tests city officials have performed so far this year, only one has tested positive for the West Nile virus, Grizzaffi said.
The mosquito pool that tested positive had a “very small percentage” of the virus in it, he said. There are six locations throughout Morgan City where officials do mosquito pool testing, Grizzaffi said.
A mosquito pool is a collection of mosquitoes placed in a vial and sent to the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine to test for a live virus, said Glenn Stokes, owner of Mosquito Control Contractors in New Iberia. Stokes sprays mosquitoes in the unincorporated areas of the parish.
In the news release, the city’s mosquito control consultant, Matt Yates of MS&CC LLC, said he doesn’t “anticipate any major problems” due to the positive pool test “occurring at the end of West Nile peak time.”
According to the latest Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals report, St. Mary Parish has had five mosquito pools test positive for West Nile and one positive avian test. There have been no positive West Nile human cases this year in St. Mary Parish.
Twenty-three human cases of West Nile have been reported so far this year in Louisiana, according to the report.
A couple weeks ago, Stokes reported that two mosquito pools in Bayou Vista tested positive for West Nile in addition to one in Four Corners. Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan also reported a positive mosquito test in Patterson.
After the positive pool tests in August, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Spokesman John Ford said it is “pretty common” for mosquito pools to test positive for West Nile and stressed that positive pool tests don’t qualify as cases of the virus. A positive test result would only count as a case if testers found West Nile in a horse or human, Ford said.
As a reminder, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals offers the following tips to protect against the West Nile virus.
Protecting Yourself:
—If you will be outside, you should wear a mosquito repellent containing DEET. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that repellents should contain no more than 30 percent DEET when used on children. Insect repellents also are not recommended for children younger than 2 months of age. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that you always follow the recommendations appearing on the product label when using repellent.
—Apply repellent on exposed skin and clothing. Do not apply under your clothes or on broken skin.
—To apply repellent to your face, spray on your hands and then rub on your face, avoiding your eyes.
—Adults should always apply repellent to children.
—Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants when outdoors for long periods of time.
—Avoid perfumes and colognes when outdoors for extended periods of time.
—Make sure that your house has tight-fitting windows and doors, and that all screens are free of holes.
Protecting Your Home:
—Reduce the mosquito population by eliminating standing water around your home, which is where mosquitoes breed.
—Dispose of tin cans, ceramic pots and other unnecessary containers that have accumulated on your property. Turn over wheelbarrows, plastic wading pools, buckets, trashcans, children’s toys or anything that could collect water.
—Drill holes in the bottom of outdoor recycling containers. Drainage holes that are located on the container sides collect enough water for mosquitoes to breed.
—Check and clean roof gutters routinely. They are often overlooked, but can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.
—Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. Water gardens can become major mosquito producers if they are allowed to stagnate.
—Clean and chlorinate swimming pools that are not being used. A swimming pool that is left untended by a family for a month can produce enough mosquitoes to result in neighborhood-wide complaints. Be aware that mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers.