Danger now seen lurking outdoors
By ELIZABETH ABBOTT
Journal Staff Writer
SOUTH KINGSTOWN
-- A dead crow is one thing, said Stephen Briggs, owner of Allie's Tack & Feed in North Kingstown. But a dead horse?
That's "spooky," Briggs said.
This was the mood in South County yesterday, one day after the state announced that the West Nile virus recently killed a horse in South Kingstown.
From the stables and trails of the Tower Hill Equestrian Center, in North Kingstown, to South Kingstown's picturesque Village Green, residents in this region, which is known for its natural beauty, are suddenly viewing the great outdoors in a new light.
Cook-ins instead of cookouts, packing bug spray in their children's knapsacks -- these are some of the measures residents are taking, now that they know that the mosquitoes carrying the dangerous virus are biting mammals, as well as birds.
"I think we'll stay inside," said Sharry Mulligan, of South Kingstown, as she watched her two children play on the swings and slides at the Village Green.
"It's very, very serious," said Briggs, whose store supplies most of the horse owners in South County.
As soon as he opened for business yesterday morning, three customers came in to buy bug spray for their horses, Briggs said. The demand for insecticide can't compare with people buying batteries and milk before a hurricane, but there is definitely a heightened awareness about the dangers of mosquitoes since the horse's death, Briggs said.
The state Department of Environmental Management announced Monday that a horse stabled on Saugatucket Road, in Wakefield, was euthanized Aug. 28, and had since tested positive for the West Nile virus. At a news conference in South Kingstown yesterday morning, a spokesman for the DEM said the horse showed classic signs of the virus prior to its death.
These symptoms can include lack of appetite, listlessness, fever, convulsions, weakness and impaired vision.
"It's clear the animal was infected by a mosquito carrying the West Nile virus," said Malcolm Grant, the associate director for natural resources at the DEM.
Since people are mammals, too, the horse's death indicates that for the first time this summer, there are mosquitoes out there carrying the West Nile virus that could bite humans, Grant said.
"People should renew their diligence in personal protective measures," Grant said.
These include using insect repellent with the ingredient DEET, avoiding outdoor activities at dawn and dusk and in wooded or marshy areas, and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
Spraying is planned for a two-mile radius around where the infected horse was stabled, an area that comprises 55 miles of roadway in South Kingstown and 50 miles in neighboring Narragansett. Although originally set to take place last night, town officials announced yesterday it has been postponed until tonight due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Spraying in a section of Coventry was also postponed and rescheduled until tonight. A dead crow infected with the West Nile virus was found around the Westwood Estates mobile home park in eastern Coventry on Aug. 27.
"Successful ground spraying depends on contact with flying mosquitoes," Grant said.
The forecast for last night called for cool, windy weather -- not optimal conditions for either spraying or finding an abundance of mosquitoes, Grant said.
The spraying tonight is scheduled to begin at 7 and conclude at about 11 in all three towns, weather permitting. A man-made pesticide, Sumithrin, will be used. Sumithrin is not considered a health risk to humans. Nonetheless, residents are advised to stay indoors with their pets during the spraying and for at least 10 minutes afterward. Windows should be closed and air conditioners turned off during the spraying.
Residents are also advised to cover outdoor tables and big equipment; bring toys, clothes and equipment indoors, and wash any exposed fruits and vegetables before cooking or eating them.
Neither South Kingstown nor Narragansett canceled any after-school activities for children or changed the time of school openings as a result of the new turn the West Nile virus has taken. Some of these measures were taken in 1996, when South Kingstown was threatened with mosquitoes carrying the Eastern equine encephalitis virus.
The chance of a person dying from the EEE virus is far greater than it is with the West Nile virus, Dr. Uptala Bandy, of the state Health Department, said yesterday.
"If people take a commonsense approach to this and take precautions, it's not a serious health risk," said South Kingstown Town Manager Stephen A. Alfred.
Printer-Friendly Version