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8.1.2001 00:09
West Nile found
in mosquitoes in
R.I. for first time
• Officials say the latest outbreak does not appear to pose a significant threat to residents.
BY DOUGLAS STEINKE
Journal Staff Writer
FOSTER
-- The first mosquitoes ever identified as carriers of the West Nile virus in Rhode Island were trapped off East Killingly Road, in Foster, the state Department of Environmental Management said yesterday.
Although West Nile virus has been found in dead birds in three towns across the state this year, this is the first time the virus has been discovered in Rhode Island mosquitoes, said Malcolm Grant, the DEM's associate director of natural resources.
The mosquitoes that tested positive for the virus were collected from a single trap set on July 16 and emptied the next morning. Scientists have been testing the specimens since then at two laboratories used by the state.
The West Nile virus, which can cause flu-like symptoms, but also a deadly inflammation of the brain, originated in Africa and was first discovered in the United States in Queens, N.Y., in 1999. Most people are not affected by the virus, Grant said, although the elderly tend to be more susceptible.
Officials said the latest outbreak does not appear to pose a significant threat to residents.
"We would not begin to get worried unless we saw much more pervasive infection," Grant said. "We are doing follow-up testing to try to get a better handle on this. We'll focus on [the East Killingly Road] area but we intend to do some concentric circles around the area as well."
Grant said the DEM will place 10 additional traps in Foster to monitor mosquitoes infected with the virus.
The agency has no plans to conduct spraying in Foster. When birds were killed by the disease last year in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts, officials sprayed the affected areas. Now they plan to avoid spraying, they say, because the death of birds from West Nile does not necessarily signal a threat to humans.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, West Nile has been detected in mosquito pools in four states this year -- Maryland, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. The virus has been detected in one way or another in the District of Columbia and nine states along the East Coast.
The five mosquitoes infected with the virus in Foster were found in a trap set by the DEM near the Connecticut state line at the intersection of East Killingly and Paine Roads. Three were
Coquillettidia
mosquitoes and two were of the
Aedes cantator
variety. Grant said the species that tested positive were "not all that common" in Rhode Island but that the virus could be carried by any kind of mosquito, including the most common ones.
The East Killingly Road site is located near both the Nancy Ann Nursing Home and North Foster Day Care, prompting concerns and speculation among local officials.
"It's swampy in that area and there's a pond behind the North Foster Baptist Church as well," said Foster Town Council Vice President Harold R. Shippee Sr., noting that mosquitoes breed in swampy areas.
Still, Shippee said, he isn't terribly worried. He said he drove by the daycare center yesterday afternoon and children were playing outside.
State Rep. Nicholas Gorham, a Republican who represents Coventry and Foster, said: "I think the most important thing is that the public be aware of what's going on."
The first human infected with West Nile in the United States this year was a 73-year-old man in Madison County, Fla., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was stricken earlier this month and remains hospitalized.
No humans have ever tested positive for West Nile in Rhode Island, according to Grant. Still, he said, area residents should take precautions by using insect-repellent spray. They should also get rid of anything in their yards that holds standing water, such as old tires or buckets, where mosquitoes could breed.
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