State will avoid pesticide use in West Nile battle

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State will avoid pesticide use in West Nile battle

By MARIAN GAIL BROWN

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When it comes to combating West Nile virus this season, it's going to take a

lot more than dead crows, pools of diseased mosquitoes and sick horses to

convince the state to fight back with pesticides.

With all the snow and rain this year -- 1.5 inches above normal -- experts

predict a bumper crop of spring mosquitoes. The good news is, officials say,

there is no evidence those mosquitoes transmit the virus.

After two years of battling the virus, state officials and national

researchers say there will have to be significant risks to humans before

they endorse using pesticides.

With the experience we've had in Connecticut and our attempts at first to

prevent West Nile transmission and contain it, we've learned it's possible

to have pretty heavy [virus] activity in animals without a clear-cut threat

to humans, said Dr. Hadler, chief epidemiologist for the state

Department of Health.

Last year, we had more than 1,000 birds [that tested] positive for West

Nile. We had positive mosquito pools. And we had horses with West Nile. We

had all of this without having a severe risk to humans, Hadler said. And all

of that colors our thinking for what the threshold is for saying there is an

emergency that requires the application of adulticides.

Blood samples taken from 731 residents living on the Stamford-Greenwich line

after last summer's outbreak of West Nile virus showed no sign of human

infection, state health officials said.

The only confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Connecticut involved an

unidentified Norwalk woman, who tested positive for the virus after

experiencing headaches last summer. She recovered.

Last July, the state Department of Environmental Protection, following a

recommendation from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

applied the pesticide resmethrin over a two-mile radius encompassing parts

of Stamford, Darien and New Canaan after a pool of mosquitoes tested

positive for the virus.

In the big scheme of things, Connecticut appeared much more reluctant than

neighboring states to pull out the pesticide arsenals to knock down mosquito

populations. Over and over, state officials were asked to explain why they

weren't authorizing such action when Massachusetts, Rhode Island New York

City, Westchester County, Long Island and parts of New Jersey were.

Philosophically, I have been sort of inclined since the get-go to be slow to

use adulticides, said state DEP Commissioner Arthur Rocque Jr. It was the

last step. New York sprayed every time [mosquitoes and birds tested

positive]. We were very conservative -- and I think we are becoming even

more conservative now.

Rivka Lieber, co-chairwoman of Seeking Alternatives for the Environment who

opposed the state's pesticide spraying last year, called the 2001 position a

welcome change.

At this time, we still don't have any justification for spraying for West

Nile virus now that this is documented as a mild disease, Lieber said. So

while I commend them for raising the threshold for pesticides. I remain

concerned that their decisions to spray this summer will once again be a

Band-Aid solution to a long- term problem, she said.

We already know from the past summer [that] more people were affected by the

spraying than the potential harm for West Nile virus, Lieber claimed.

In 2000, local and state officials steadfastly defended their aversion to

applying pesticides -- either from the ground or by air, a situation that

would require a directive from the governor.

Now it appears that other states may follow that lead.

Our CDC guidelines for West Nile are being revised. They will be the result

of a recent national meeting we had with experts, academics and other

federal agencies, said Dr. Lyle , deputy director for science at the

CDC's Division of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases in Fort , Colo.

With regard to adulticides, it is our opinion, that is not the most

effective way of controlling West Nile, said. What you want to do

is reduce their numbers before they hatch with larvicides and by getting rid

of any standing water. Adulticides are really the court of last resort when

there is a substantial risk of human infection.

In 1999, when West Nile debuted in Connecticut, it was largely confined to

Fairfield and New Haven counties. By the time the first frost hit in

November 2000, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station had detected

it in 109 of the state's 169 municipalities and all eight counties.

We could see West Nile emerge anywhere in the state now, said Theodore

dis, chief medical entomologist for the ag station in New Haven.

With that mind-set, the station expects to increase its mosquito trapping

program, which stood at 37 permanent locations at the beginning of last

season, climbed to 73 and will increase this year to 90 sites, representing

148 different cities and towns. Additional traps will go Milford, Danbury,

Cheshire, Middlefield, Glastonbury and Hebron.

I'm expecting the spring mosquito population to be very abundant. The snow

probably increased their egg survival chances. And if we continue to see

increased or normal rainfall, the mosquitoes will be robust, dis said.

Nevertheless, he added, there is no evidence that spring mosquitoes are

involved with transmission of West Nile.

To thwart the spread of the virus last year, DEP allocated $577,646 to 78

municipalities to apply larvicides to standing water to prevent mosquitoes

from hatching. The DEP spent an additional $11,000 for larvicide at the

state parks it controls.

Gov. G. Rowland's proposed 2001-02 budget sets aside $1.2 million for

mosquito control efforts, but none of that money is specifically earmarked

for larvicide -- a product that may help reduce the mosquito population and

lower the transmission rate of the virus.

Rocque, the DEP Commissioner, is lobbying for the Legislature to add

$500,000 -- slightly less than what the DEP spent last year for larvicide --

to his department's budget. The intent is to stretch that money to cover all

of the municipalities that were affected last year by West Nile.

Between 60- to 70-percent of that money would go directly to the

municipalities that are likely candidates for West Nile.

We would focus on those that we knew of that had positive mosquitoes first,

then horses, then dead birds. That's how we would allocate the funds, Rocque

said. We would reserve the balance so that if there was a outbreak elsewhere

we could provide assistance.

In a state with a $13 billion budget, I do think that we can find that money

somewhere, Rocque said. At least, that's what I'm hoping.

MariAn Gail Brown, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6288.