9.15.2000 00:15
W. Nile found
in Fall River
Officials are weighing whether to spray for mosquitoes this late in the season.
By MARISA KATZ
Journal Staff Writer
FALL RIVER
-- The West Nile virus has surfaced for the first time in Fall River, in a dead crow found Monday in the Highlands area, city officials said yesterday.
But because mosquito season is winding down, pesticide spraying may not be necessary, they said.
Fall River received word last night from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health that a crow found in the vicinity of 30 Ward St. had tested positive for the West Nile virus.
Late yesterday, city officials were conferring with Bristol County Mosquito Control Supt. Alan DeCastro to discuss whether to plan a spraying program for the area.
"It may be overkill on our part," said Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. "But there's no reason not to if it adds an additional layer of protection to Fall River."
After a dead crow from Seekonk tested positive for the West Nile virus last month, county mosquito-control workers sprayed the pesticide Resmithrin within a two-mile radius of where that bird was discovered.
The virus grows in birds and then may be transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.
But now mosquito season is near an end. And although public concern has prompted mosquito-control offices throughout the state to continue spraying longer than usual this year, Bristol County had planned to finish all pesticide spraying today.
That may change in light of the virus's appearance in Fall River. But Lambert said there will be no spraying in residential areas until a public announcement is made.
He added that residents should not panic.
"Crows do fly," he said. "And just because it was found in Fall River doesn't mean it was infected in Fall River."
The city's crow was one of 73 birds in Massachusetts that died between Sept. 5 and Sept. 12 and tested positive for the West Nile virus. A bird from New Bedford that died in that same time period was the first case of the virus identified in that city.
So far this year in the state, 176 birds have tested positive for the virus and four infected mosquito pools have been identified. But there have been no reports of humans contracting the virus.
Find out more about the West Nile virus
, from recent local news to information about the disease to efforts at prevention, at:
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Officials are weighing whether to spray for mosquitoes this late in the season.