Finding Friday Fair Faced Suggests a Safe Saturday and a Well Weekend,

I heard the planes fly over at about 10 pm last night. About 300 feet above the ground, they buzzed the house spraying for mosquitoes. For the first time in over 40 years, Dallas is fighting mosquitoes from the air.

Birds carry the potentially deadly West Nile Virus. A mosquito bites an infected bird and then buzzes away and bites a person. The virus enters the person’s blood stream from the contaminated stinger of the disease-carrying mosquito. About 20% (1 in 5) of the people bitten by the dangerous mosquitoes experience flu-like symptoms (fever, headache, muscle pain). Of those that get sick, about 0.5% (1 in 150) get much sicker with a potentially fatal brain inflammation. Some of those people die.

This year, Dallas, Texas is the epicenter of the virus attack. 25% of the US cases have occurred in Dallas. In Dallas County where I live, over 200 people have been diagnosed with West Nile Virus and 10 people have died.

In 1999, the virus first appeared in the US with 62 confirmed cases in the state of New York. Last year, the virus had traveled to about 25 states with Colorado, California, Nebraska and Texas (#4) having the most cases. This year, about 32 states have documented cases of the disease, with Texas experiencing the worst outbreak.

I no longer go out to water the plants in the mornings or evenings, reserving those activities to the mid-day heat when the mosquitoes are dormant. When I do go out, I wear long pants and socks, and I spray exposed areas of my skin with a repellent.

There is not much standing water about because we have been dry for much of the summer, but many people and businesses have sprinkler systems to maintain landscaping. I guess there has been enough water to maintain the mosquito population. There are a lot of birds. Now that I think about it, I did find a dead bird about a month ago. The virus is out there. That’s why the planes were overhead last night. Spraying will help, but aerial spraying is only 60-90% effective in controlling the mosquito population, and mosquitoes are prevalent and active in this area well into the fall.

The virus arrived by air beneath the wings of birds who somehow found their way to New York in 1999. Hopefully, the spread of the virus will be stopped beneath the wings of planes spraying the fine mist of synthetic pyrethroids. It is a pesticide generally considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency. No one wants to spray, but the virus must be stopped. Keep us in your prayers.

Be careful, take precautions for where you’re at and what you might encounter, and have a safe and enjoyable weekend,

Grandpa Jim