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A new virus called the West Nile Virus was introduced into
the US in 1999. It had previously only been found in Africa,
the Middle East, and parts of Asia. First identified in New
York City, no one knows exactly how it arrived: an infected
immigrant or an infected mosquito on board a ship or airplane.
In the US it found a population of people, birds and horses
that had no immunity, and mosquitoes that the virus could
complete its life cycle in, and so it has thrived.
So far about 34 species of mosquitoes have been shown to
harbor the virus, although it is not likely that all these
species are involved in transmission as some do not harbor
large numbers, or do not feed on appropriate hosts.
To date there have been 2,530 cases of West Nile Virus reported
to the Center for Disease Control with 125 deaths. While these
numbers are not high when compared to some other diseases,
they are disturbing for several reasons. First, the disease
is spreading. From the first reported cases, the virus has
spread to every state east of the Rocky Mountains by the fall
of 2002. Further, it does not seem to be cyclical like some
other mosquito-borne infections, but rather the number of
cases in states that first reported cases has stayed constant
or increased in each of the three intervening years. These
findings suggest that this disease could be here to stay and
that the numbers may continue to increase as the disease spreads
geographically and builds up in a community.
In the fall of 2002 both bird and horse cases were identified
in Mesa County. Being a rural county with abundant bird populations,
a large horse population and a concentration of humans living
in a small city makes this county a prime habitat for this
disease. While predicting the future is always chancy, it
is highly likely that human cases will occur in Mesa County
in 2003.
The disease in humans may manifest itself in more than one
way. It is sometimes a mild infection with flu-like symptoms,
so mild as to be hardly noticed or easily disregarded. But
in others, often those whose immune systems are compromised
to some degree, the virus can invade the central nervous system
and cause encephalitis-type symptoms leading to serious disease,
long-term disability, or death. Because it is a virus there
are very few treatments available. Generally, medical personnel
resort to treating symptoms and waiting for the disease to
run its course.
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This means that controlling mosquitoes becomes one of the
only protections citizens have against the disease.
The Redlands Mosquito Control District incorporates most
of the Redlands as well as on westward to include the town
of Fruita. This has proven advantageous to many citizens as
the local city and county governments have been reluctant
to provide control. The district uses primarily biological
control methods and has had close ties to Mesa State College
since its inception, using students as summer employees and
faculty as consultants and for research. Mosquito control
never eradicates all mosquitoes, but as practiced locally,
has been highly successful at keeping numbers of mosquitoes
low enough that they cause no serious interference in human
activity or transmission of disease. In the 1985 outbreak
of St. Louis Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne disease similar
to West Nile in many respects, no cases were reported from
within the control district boundaries.
Members of the Mesa State faculty have been directors of
field operations and research for many years as well as serving
as a governing board member. The district has employed Mesa
State students in the summer as field workers and crew supervisors.
More recently the district has made scholarships and internships
available to selected students. Students can earn credit hours
for internship or research experience. This research adds
to basic knowledge of mosquito biology and refines the district’s
capacity to control mosquitoes. Over the years the district
has provided summer employment and experience for approximately
75 students, and several students have published research
helping them to gain admission to graduate and professional
schools.
In the 2001-2002 school year the Redlands Mosquito Control
District began offering a full tuition scholarship to a summer
employee who had proven to be reliable and hard working, and
who would promise to return for a second season with the district.
Student treating mosquito larvae habitat.
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