West Nile Virus all around area, but no sign of it here

Ken Johnston
Editor

There have still not been any confirmed cases of the West Nile Virus being in Northwestern Ontario.
Al Mathers, Environmental Health Officer with the Northwestern Health Unit, said Monday that in the past two weeks 13 birds have been sent away for testing and none have had positive results for the virus. However he did say the birds have been coming in fairly steady since the virus was found about three weeks ago in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Last week there were also reports of a bird testing positive in Minnesota, near Minneapolis. This puts the virus just about completely around Northwestern Ontario. It has been found in Eastern Ontario, Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba.
Why is it not here?
Mathers said there have been several theories two of which he has heard. They include the flyways that birds follow with many birds coming up the Mississippi, connecting to the Red River and up into Manitoba. Another is that NWO may not have as high a crow population as other areas. “These are just theories,” emphasized Mathers.
The West Nile Virus in most cases does not severely effect a person bitten by an infected mosquito. However in very rare cases it can cause encephalitis which is swelling of the brain. Many areas have started fogging programs to kill mosquitoes, but Mathers said he would be more worried about the spraying of Malathion than getting West Nile Virus.
“In most cases people infected might have light flu like symptoms. Malathion is a dangerous chemical,” said Mathers.
Winnipeg residents were forced to accept a spraying of the chemical even if they were opposed to it. It is one of the many pesticides that has been slated for removal of over the counter sales in the near future.
Mathers also said that the spraying also kills off the very food that many birds and other predators eat. The predators then leave or die off and when the mosquitoes come back they face less threats and communities are then forced to spray the chemicals again.
Mathers suspects the thirteen birds thus far will be closer to 20 as he received word that there were two birds coming in Monday from Kenora, two from Dryden and two from Fort Frances.