6.2.2000
State begins war against W. Nile virus
The Department of Environmental Management has begun distributing larvicide across the state to eliminate mosquitoes, which spreads the deadly form of encephalitis.

By TOM MOONEY
Journal Staff Writer

After months of preparation, state agencies and local communities have officially launched the war on mosquitoes; a preemptive strike against the threat of the deadly West Nile virus.

From Westerly to Woonsocket, local officials were cleared yesterday to begin sprinkling half-teaspoons of larvicide into catch basins with the hope the tiny gray pellets will kill as many mosquitoes as possible before they take flight.

Meanwhile, at a state parks and recreation supply depot in Cranston, the Department of Environmental Management dispensed boxes of larvicide to state and federal agencies for the first time.

More than a dozen agencies -- including the Rhode Island Air National Guard, the state Department of Transportation and workers from the state's colleges -- lined up at the Pawtuxet Supply Depot before 11 a.m. to pick up their rations.

The DEM's Dennis Martin, who was dispensing the pellets in 44-pound boxes, said all of the state's more than 100,000 catch basins would hopefully be seeded with the insecticide over the next several weeks.

Each dose of larvicide works for up to 30 days, preventing mosquitoes from reaching adulthood and eventually dying an unfulfilled, bloodless life.

The larvicide works best on the common house mosquito, called Culex pipiens, which likes to breed in the catch basins, attracted by the nutrient-rich water, Martin explained.

The larvicide disbursement is part of a $250,000 program the DEM and the state Health Department began organizing last November after the West Nile outbreak in New York City.

The disease -- a form of encephalitis -- is common in Africa and Eastern Europe. But last fall it showed up in the United States for the first time, infecting 62 New Yorkers and killing 7.

Thirteen horses on Long Island and many birds also died. And West Nile virus was also found in mosquitoes in New Jersey and western Connecticut.

To help educate people about prevention, the state Health Department last week began mailing out about 2,500 packets of information to the elderly community.

"The experience in New York was that all the people who died were over 75," said Helen Drew, a Health Department spokeswoman. "So we're sending the packets to adult day-care centers, assisted living centers, elderly housing and senior centers and nursing facilities."

The packets, which include posters and tip sheets, advise how to prevent mosquito bites and eliminate their breeding grounds.

While the public education campaign gets under way, DEM workers set out the first mosquito traps this week to analyze the bugs for signs of the West Nile virus.

The first test results won't be known until next week, spokeswoman Gail Mastrati said.