Sacramento, not unlike the rest of the USA, is having a problem with West Nile virus. We in California have watched this disease spread across the country, knowing that it was only a matter of time before we would be dealing with it — however one deals with this issue.
Well, Sacramento began spraying pesticides from airplanes last night, and I’m wondering if anyone has any thoughts about this.
The Sacramento mosquito control district has zoomed into action a plan of spraying, with the first public notice given Friday (and the first public hearing was only Friday night.) The spraying began last night (Monday), and does not include my neighborhood — by probably a mile or so. The area where I live has now just been added as a spray sight for this weekend.
About 2 to 3 weeks ago, I started suffering from what I would describe “flu-like symptoms”, many of which overlap that which are the symptoms for West Nile fever. Apparently, 80% of people show no symptoms if bit by an infected mosquito, 20% of people have mild to moderate symptoms (which I believe I had), and a bit less than 1% have serious, life-threatening complications, such as encephalitis, meningitis, etc — at particular risk, as I’m sure you can imagine, are those with immunity issues.
No one around me has had any flu-like symptoms, and I did not have any nasal issues which are typical for me when I have the cold-type flu. I was exhausted, and suffered body aches and joint aches and was sensitive to touch, had sweats while my teeth were chattering I was so cold. That is why I am somewhat convinced that I suffered the mild-to-moderate form of West Nile fever. I’ve been told that a great way for a free test for West Nile virus is to give blood, and the bloodmobile is coming to our church — but not until the end of the month. Oh, and also I found a dead Blue Jay in our front yard in about April, which I reported to the county.
Now, I bring all of that up to provide context as to how I can understand the need for control of West Nile virus — I think I suffered from a form of it. But I have some real concerns about how the Sacramento mosquito district has been handling the situation.
First, the lack of public notice is disturbing. As a caller to my drive time talk show put it — I don’t care if they are spraying water, they should have had public hearings and clearly explained a game plan. The mosquito control district seems to be making this up as they go along, changing the times and areas being sprayed, and doing a very poor job of communicating when they will spray, other than vague statements of “8PM to about 11:30PM”. Well, last night they were out past midnight. At first, the media said there were no worries — the pesticide being used was made from chrysanthemum flowers (pyrethrins). But as time moved from Friday’s announcement through last night’s spraying, suddenly it came out that it wasn’t as simple as that. The company hired by the mosquito district would be using (from the Sacramento Bee) this stuff:
The product being used, EverGreen Crop Protection EC 60-6, lists on its label toxic ingredients such as pyrethrins, insecticides extracted from chrysanthemum flowers widely used in household and garden products, and piperonyl butoxide, or PBO, a chemical that inhibits insects’ ability to detoxify pyrethrins.
Some critics of aerial spraying said they are more concerned about PBO because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers it a “possible” cancer-causing agent that targets the liver. PBO makes up 60 percent of the insecticide, compared with 6 percent pyrethrins.
Again, on Friday we were told it was no big deal, and we need not alter our activities. Now we are told:
The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District recommends staying indoors between 8 p.m. and midnight during spraying. District officials also offered guidance for those who want to take added – but not necessary – precautions as a way to feel more secure:
- Turn off air conditioning or ventilation systems in the evening hours during spraying.
- Bring patio furniture, toys and pets indoors for the evening. Cover other items left outside.
- Remove shoes before coming inside until spraying ends.
- Wash outdoor furniture or other items people may touch. But don’t create pools of water that could become new mosquito breeding grounds.
- Fruits, vegetables or herbs from gardens should be washed but will be safe to eat.
- Swimming pools do not need to be covered or drained and will be safe for swimming after the applications.
That seems a bit more involved than they first let on, and keeping a pet indoors for an extended time could become an issue — and then, one must wash the pet if one were concerned about this stuff getting on the fur. (We do not currently have any pets.)
Secondly, I just don’t know how effective this whole program is. There are no doubts that Sacramento is having some of the most incidents of West Nile virus in all of California, according to the mosquito district website.
But, the birds are the hosts — and this does nothing to control the disease in birds. Also, Northern California is home to dozens of lakes and rivers, and Sacramento is surrounded by agricultural areas. Any reduction in the adult mosquito population, I feel, will be quickly filled in by the neighboring areas.
Now, I am about to be sprayed this weekend. I am sympathetic to the need to try and prevent West Nile virus from making people sick, as I believe I had a form of it. I am neither an epidemiologist nor a pesticide expert, so I ask of anyone out there — any thoughts?
 
[editor’s note, by Intellectually Curious]
By the way, please allow me to say — in no way does this compare to the far more serious issues of the day, like those in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Cindy Sheehan and some of ours who are travelling to provide her with support. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by the policies of this administration, and the poverty that is far too common in this world. Mosquitoes are a leading preventable cause of death from malaria and other diseases, and we would be far better served had we not been dropping bombs and instead using the money for mosquito nets, quinine, and developing vaccines.
Evergreen’s label, and material safety data sheet [MSDS]. I’d suggest checking the Bee to see what concentrations they are using. Channel 10 is all over this.
okay, I haven’t seen Channel 3 (I much prefer 10 in general).
Tonight, they never even said that they added this strip of land across the north county, where I live – they just implied that they were expanding to the south county (south of the American River).
In any case, the mosquito control website has better information than what I’ve seen from the media — and I’ve been disappointed, to say the least, in the coverage from the Sacramento Bee. They haven’t lifted a finger to investigate anything on this, just parroting out the county’s press conference.
God, that’s awful. And unnecessary considering the risks.
Unnecesary indeed, it seems to me. I don’t think it’s going to do anything to solve the West Nile virus problem. I don’t know what other communities are doing about it, even outside the U.S. And, I’m no expert — but I was hoping for thoughts from the Tribbers … thank you all for posting.
By rushing in this spraying, they said they are having 100% effectiveness on adult mosquitoes that are in the air, and 30% effectiveness for those in “vegetation” like trees, brush etc. Those are pretty bad odds! And, it does nothing to the next generation, currently in the larvae stage. And, it harms other beneficial insects, including those that naturally go after mosquitoes — so are we going to be facing a booming population as nature fills the vacuum caused by no adult mosquitoes, who have had at least some of their predators removed?
I would be worried. And I’m also wondering if it’s harmful enough to animals that pets should be kept indoors, how many wild animals will be endangered?
Well, I categorize that in the “lack of information” that the county is providing. They are dispersing it in a very small dosage, almost to the point where it evaporates when it hits the ground. But it makes me so mad that I can’t trust the government anymore. Obviously, Bush is gone way off into the deep end when it comes to selective use of information (and disinformation.) But now I can’t even trust the local mosquito board? Sure, it would have taken more time to explain things to the citizens. Sure, it would cause people to be nervous at first. So what? That’s their job, and should have been done before spraying poisons.
Back to the original comment, at first they said it was no harm to mammals. But, the EPA site said large doses cause problems in rats. First, the county said it was pyrethrins, but it’s this PBO that is SIXTY PERCENT of the stuff their putting out that seems to be the possible carcinogen.
So, I haven’t a clue about wild animals — what happens when a bat eats a sprayed mosquito? I’d rather have the bat alive eating hundreds of mosquitoes per night than taking the natural balance out of the system.
I found a few articles on this stuff, here and there, probably nothing you didn’t find but I gather the PBO is to increase the kill time of the actual insecticide. And the combination is toxic to birds, fish and beneficial insects, so it looks like a bad idea on it’s face. And of course, the mosquitoes will eventually become resistant to it, so all in all, not a great thing.This chemical was sprayed in New York a few years back so there might be more articles about the after effects available from environmental groups here. I don’t suppose you could flee for the week end? I know that doesn’t help the risk to others and wildlife and any water way the gets hit with this stuff but…I also read that there is a last minute suit to stop this but I don’t know the outcome. Stay safe.
Thanks, Vida for your comments.
I think I’ll be staying inside during the evenings, but I will be covering the pool (even though the mosquito board says it is not necessary).
Yes, the more I read, the more I think it’s a “bad idea on its face”. I don’t think a month from now it would have made any difference in the adult mosquito population, and the argument could be made that it will be worse because of the resistance, and killing off of natural predators. Those mosquitoes will be biting the still infected birds, so I just don’t think this has been thought through.
But, I’m a computer programmer — what the hell do I know?
I’m sorry to hear California is at it again. I’m no expert on this, so I can’t comment on whether the current federal administation has any bearing on the situation, but back in… I think the late-80s or early 90s, they used to spray the hell out of LA with malathion — remember medflies?
I don’t even recall what the big, hairy deal was, but we were somehow doomed if a single medfly escaped into the “bread basket.” Anyway, they regularly sprayed malathion and people were saying they and their pets were getting sick and even a lot of reports of people’s paint on their cars being ruined.
LA put out a list just like the one in your diary and everyone was using the car paint as evidence — how harmless could it be if it was screwing up car paint?
and malathion is a far more potent chemical (or chemical combination) than this Evergreen stuff.
IIRC, the medfly threat was to the citrus industry, worth $billions — guess who won (clue = we were sprayed).
I’m not sure how it ever panned out, but there was some debate about liability, at a minimum for the damaged paint. I don’t know if Sacramento county has thought through their potential liability with their current spraying campaign. One potential problem would be organic farmers, who (through no fault of their own) may not be able to market their product because it was sprayed with chemicals during the growing process.
Thanks for your comments, Izzy 🙂
I grew up in the Chicago suburbs which were sprayed every year. The big difference was that it was done from the back of trucks that released it as a fog. Probably some nasty chemical too. Also, they went around applying something to any standing water to kill the larva.
I don’t remember if they gave out a schedule, but you could hear and see (flashing light) it coming, giving you time to go inside and close windows before it came down your street. Never heard of any health problems related to it.
I live in the northern part of Sacramento county, in a strip that was not sprayed Monday and Tuesday nights right along the Sacramento / Placer county border.
For this weekend, they were to move to the southern part of Sacramento county, and I thought I was safe (no spraying.) However, last night along with the southern area, the strip of land in the north section (where I live, along the county border) was suddenly included in the map of the spray area.
Once a month, our county supervisor has meetings in our area, in an attempt to decentralize the board of supervisors, and meet with constituents. I enjoy these meetings, and attend almost all of them. This month, a woman was scheduled to speak about reckless driving. Now, I’m against reckless driving as much as the next person. However, today I called the supervisor’s area and suggested that given the activities and controversy, the woman speaking about reckless driving maybe should be rescheduled, and instead the hour devoted to the mosquito plans (or lack thereof.)
Well, lo and behold — I just checked the current map, and the northern county strip of land is no longer included in the planned spraying for this weekend. This mosquito control board is doing a horrible job of public relations and communications about a public health hazard. The word ‘epidemic’ should be used sparingly, and if going to be used the public should be informed exactly what is going to be done and why. The mosquito board has fallen far short.