Mosquitoes put bite on Tri-City area

If you go to high school football games in the Tri-City area, make sure you bring a can of mosquito repellent containing DEET.

The late-summer rains have helped mosquitos breed in the Tri-City area. And the West Nile virus was recently found in a chicken in Patterson.

The West Nile virus has also been detected this year in Iberia and St. Martin parishes, according to Cajun Mosquito Control.

Residents in these areas are being informed that there is a heightened potential for encephalitis infection.

“You can mark it on your calendar for the next 100 years. September and October are the heaviest months of mosquito activity in the state,” said Cajun Mosquito Control owner Jessie Boudreaux Jr.

The female flood water mosquitos, also known as psorophora columbiae, are laying eggs for next year’s crop of mosquitos, Boudreaux said.

And they aggressively feed and lay their eggs every September and October.

When water receded, the pockets of land retaining water for weeks produced enormous amounts of mosquito broods being hatched off that never would have been there before, Boudreaux said.

“It was very, very unusual,” Boudreaux said. “And it’s having a secondary effect with this species of mosquitos having a lot of breeding sites available to it.”

The influx of flood waters and additional mosquitos make things complicated for the regular mosquito programs.

The spraying contact was delayed a week from its previous contract with Patterson.

“Mosquitos kind of got ahead of us,” Boudreaux said. “So, when we came in we really had to jump on it, all hands on deck, I guess if you will.”

In Morgan City, “the last couple of days I’ve gotten some complaints,” said Morgan City Public Works and Mosquito Control Supervisor Jean Paul Bourg.

“We’re getting a bunch,” Bourg said. “It’s like a big breed of flood water mosquitos. We started spraying extra days in the week.”

The species of mosquitos flying around Morgan City is called coquillettidia perturbans. It is also known as the salt and pepper mosquito. It’s aggressive.

“With all the rain, we’re kind of getting a delayed reaction because it takes them a week to breed off,” Bourg said. “I think with all the wooded areas, you’ve got a lot of water holding in those areas.”

As of Sept. 27, there were a total of 24 cases of West Nile infection in Louisiana for 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sixteen of the cases are neuroinvasive , and eight are non-neuroinvasive. No deaths have occurred as result of diagnosis.

Neuroinvasive disease cases include reports of meningitis, encephalitis or acute flaccid paralysis.

Eighty-percent of people infected with the West Nile virus are asymptomatic, said local Centers for Disease Control Sentinel Physician Dr. Robert Blereau. That means they have no symptoms.

The incubation period from the time you get bitten to the time symptoms develop is one to six days, which is relatively quick, Blereau said.

“If you do get symptoms, it’s usually abrupt,” Blereau said. “It hits you kind of quick. It will produce a mild fever, headache and rash on the trunk, abdomen, chest and back.”

Other symptoms include lymph node enlargement and arthritis in joints. The lymph node enlargement is generalized, not located in a particular spot.

The majority of patients’ illnesses are self-limited and resolved without any complications within three to five days, Blereau said.

About 15 percent of patients with West Nile virus develop neurologic disease, such as encephalitis or inflammation of the brain or the covering of the brain, meningitis.

The encephalitis usually affects the elderly. Meningitis affects children and young adults.

With neurological involvement, symptoms include severe headache, stiff neck, confusion, disorientation, stupor, coma, muscle weakness and paralysis.

The mortality rate for the 15 percent of people that develop neurologic involvement is 5 percent.

“That’s the bad thing about West Nile virus,” Blereau said.

“If you don’t have neurologic involvement it’s just pretty much like any other viral disease,” Blereau said. “It runs through … and in a few days it’s gone.”

A specific blood test is needed to detect the virus.

Patients who survive can expect a complete recovery. But residual muscle weakness may persist for weeks.

“But if they have neurologic involvement and history of being bitten by a mosquito where they have diagnosed West Nile being present in the area, that would raise your suspicions. Then maybe think about getting a blood test to check that out,” Blereau said.

CDC recommendations for prevention and control are:

—Use insect repellents when you go outdoors, containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, and some oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-menthane-diol products that provide longer-lasting protection.

—Remove standing water from flowerpots, gutters, buckets, pool covers, pet water dishes, discarded tires and birdbaths on a regular basis.

—When weather permits, wear long sleeves, long pants and socks when outdoors.

—Take extra care during peak mosquito biting hours, which is dawn and dusk.

—Install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes outside.

—Report dead birds to local authorities. Dead birds may be a sign that West Nile virus is circulating among birds and the mosquitos in an area.