west nile virus

its here in Michigan(southern)but im sure it will move this way.
wear skeeter repellant!!

The skeeters here are really bad and it give one cause to be concerned.

The environmentallist have won in court and have forced them to quit spraying the waters with oils. That leaves us wide open to the mosquitos! I guess their logic is that we need to all get sick and die so the earth can prosper!

Be careful in GA, we have had animal and human deaths here.
Larkie

Scary stuff...we just got a confirmed avian report in the county north of us. And we have mosquitos just about all year round. I carry skintastic in my purse now.

It has crossed the border just last week. Confirmed in Windsor Ontario. Thank God winter is on it's way and the birds are leaving us soon.

It's here in the New Orleans area, and with the Asian Tiger Mosquito now added to about 23 native species we have skeeter bites 24/7 and year-round.

My Significan Other and I had a persistent virus hit both of us this summer, mainly GI symptoms. We have about reached the conclusion it was transmitted by all the skeeter bites we have been getting.

Confirmed here in Oakland and Macomb county Michigan also across the river in Windsor Canada.
Paul

Cattaragus county - one over from us - had the first confirmed bird death this week. It's been dry enough so far that skeeters haven't been too bad, but we had rain twice this week, so taking a little more care now.

Rumor has it here in Asheville... in a painter now in the local hospital. Mosquitoes are really BAD here, not usual. Pray for killing frosts/winter! (I'd gladly, but sadly, give up my garden for healthy beings... esp. the children.)

I guess we should kill all the Mosquitos (or at least try) with chemicals that are far more likely to hurt humans than the remote chance of contracting the virus and dying of meningitis. This virus is far more deadly to birds than humans, considering only a tiny % of the population worldwide has contracted the disease and far fewer have died.

I would not give up my garden or the mosquitos (and yes I have had to deal with 2 count 'em 2 bouts of heartworm in my dog despite giving him regular ivermectin and getting regular blood tests-oh and I have a cat + with feline leukimia also cause by mosquito bites. I love these animals but I still don't want to get rid of thre mosquitos

The mosquitos feed too many critters to be eradicated Plus it is impossible to spray all the water they breed in-better to put fish in ponds and streams and dump tires (tire dumps are major mosquito breeding areas and impossible to spray effectively), buckets etc. This still won't take care of all the breeding areas such standing water up in trees (which is the favorite place for the skeeter that carries WNV to breed) or in junk yards etc. Remember spray programs always kill far more than the intended species and usually will injure young and pregnant humans.

We humans ain't wise enough to be playing God and getting rid of species we find inconvienent. To do so always cause far worse problems than the one we were trying to get rid of.

Well I am not trying to play God He does a great job by Himself. However I would do whatever to protect my children from a deadly virus. We know you have animals but what about children. I dont get all these animal rights people when there are so many children in need. I dont go around hurting animals but if I had a choice I would save a person over an animal anyday without a thought. You said something about menegitis well its not that far fetched. There has been numerous cases in my area and 5-6 deaths in the past year. So I say save people. It just ticks me off that alot of people give all this time and money to save animals, when all this time and energy could be used to save children and families in need. Who do you think took care of the animals up until now not man but God Himself.
Sorry to rattle on but some of these animal rights people just make me mad.

It was less than one month from the time they found the first bird in GA until we had the first death.

Not to panic, everyone! This particular strain of west nile virus (yes, there are several) is only very dangerous to sick elderly people and diabetics, according to the CDC, so those folks should take care to avoid mosquito bites. My husband got west nile earlier this summer - one day of fever and feeling rotten, then he was fine again and should be immune from now on.

But west nile is terribly hard on the birds; some ornithologists are worried it may wipe out large populations. Plus, all the spraying can't be helping the birds either, by making them sick from chemicals or by destroying their food sources.

Do visit the CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/ - and find out more.

WNV was found in Indiana last week, southeast Marion County. They found a dead infected crow. So watch out Honibee "They're Here" JUlie

Amen!!!! sprouts28...

I love my animals but I LOVE my kids and Grand Darlings just a tad more!

Cheers!

Floridian, we must be kind of close, i am in alachua county, they found two dead birds here this week with nile virus, and the DH said while i was in NC they found st louis in chickens in hawthorne. good news is there aren't near as many mosquitoes now as there were a few weeks ago when they would attack in you in the middle of the day in the hot sun in hordes. we had tons of dragon flies out this evening, guess they are helping eat them.

I'm with you Sprouts. We had a cookout tonight and I am thrilled to say ther were no mosquitos. My DH has a smoke "sprayer" that he used earlier this afternoon. No doubt they will be back tomorrow, but at least our guests didn't have to suffer. The lady that died here in Ga. lived just about 15 miles from us. We did have to dodge some Yellow Jackets tho so I guess if the spray didn't get them it won't hurt us either.

Upfront I must say that I hate most animal rights folks. Why? here is a quote from the PETA website along with a link to that page so you can see for yourself.
"Isn’t hunting okay as long as I eat what I kill?"
Did the fact that Jeffrey Dahmer ate his victims justify his crimes? What is done with a corpse after its murder doesn’t lessen the victim’s suffering.
http://www.peta-online.org/fp/hunt.html
I have another one that goes something like this: A horse, a monkey, a dog, a boy what's the difference? (talking about the value of a life)
People that believe that are really scary!

All that said I must say I agree with Ohiorganic. If you want to control mosquitos put up bat and purple martin houses. Attempting to kill all of the mosquitos is IMPOSSIBLE! Besides there is a lot of other things that are far more deadly. I was just watching a show on the Health channel that says that mice and rats in almost every state carry the Hana virus, they even found it in New York City! So should we try to kill every mouse and rat in the US?
How many times have you gotten the flu? Many people that get the flu die? A lot. We get the flu from others who already have it. So should we lock them up until they are no longer contagious? What about people with AIDS, hepatitis and TB? What about lyme disease? Should we try to kill every tick in North America?
Should we all do a Howard Huges? I am not saying to throw caution to the wind. NOT at all. I am just saying don't let fear run your life. We just need to look for a cure or vaccine to WNV. Because a very small number of people die from something doesn't mean we should stop gardening or enjoying the outdoors.

BTW Dori I found a dead crow yesterday in Pontiac. In the last 10 days or so I seen a number of dead birds around Roscommon, Grayling and Gaylord. I am going to call about it. Here is the West Nile Virus Hotline for MICHIGAN ONLY 1-888-668-0869.

We have had several horses die with in a few miles of us. They all had been vacinated.. There is several horses here on the farm (not ours). They sprayed by plane over us last weeks.. Now I see no mosquitos but also no butterflies or dragonflies.. Guess it is worth it..

They are telling us in Michigan not to feed the birds.
The virus is a disease of birds. The mosquitos just spread it from the birds to us.
We have it in Michigan now and a lot of birds have been found dead.
It is also in Windsor, Canada.
The fewer birds in your area, the less chance you have of getting it.
I threw out all my bird feeders last week. Bird houses too.

Sue

I won't go that far. I love my birds. They count on me. I have always believed that when it's my time, it doesn't matter what I do, it will still happen. That may sound very simplistic, it's just who I am. I wear spray, but I won't stop feeding my birds.

Louisville, KY Almost here too, or may already be. I have found a few dead bird here...but I really think that is due to my two cats.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2001/08/26/ke082601s60984.htm
This was on the front page of our paper Sunday. They say only 1% of the mosquitoes are infected...I am with the others about spraying. It isnt very effective. We have tried a few different products this year and to not avail. They keep finding their way into our yard. Our two small pond are not any help either, and the children's wagon and buckets and my pots for plants all collect water and rarely get emptied. I hate them though! I hate getting attacked when going out side. Spray yourself down and hope for the best,

Martin houses are a great suggestion as well as bat houses. We went to Carter Caves one year and camped out. Not one skeeter bite, gotta love those bats. When do dragon flies hatch and does anyone know how to entice them to your yard? I know I have many Mantis, ladybugs and even dragonflies in our yard as well. I also have seen them since we sprayed, so either I didnt hit them directly or they were not affected by the spray.

I agree about not allowing fear to run your life. As I have heard so many times, 'prepare for the worst but expect the best'. That could be applied to many different situations. I wont go anywhere near comparing killing mosquitos to killing people...

Sure would be nice to set this thread help people find better solutions to enticing the wildlife to take care of our skeeter problems instead of attacking one another.

I don't spray for anything,well,just
my fruit trees in early spring' I do
purchase some "Mosquito Dunks" for the
bird baths' It is harmless to animals
other than mosquitoes''I purchase at
Wal*Mart and home/garden centers''Sis'

Good point, Sis! There are other ways to control mosquitoes than using toxic sprays.

On another note, I've noticed in my years of working with shelters and animal welfare groups, that those who are most outraged by "animal rights" are usually those with something to hide :-) Most of us who really do help animals just shake our heads at the rhetoric of some extremist types.


This message was edited Thursday, Aug 30th 2:53 PM

This message was edited Thursday, Aug 30th 3:18 PM

I don't understand,please elaborate'

It was actually anounced on our regeonal tv news last night that our area of the fens caries the largest species of mosquito in the UK (we knew that already) and we have the most species too, plus the one that can carry the maleria virus, but the last recorded case was 1920, they are more active this year than they have ever been before, with a record number of people being bitten, this is because spraying was halted two years ago.
There is another problem bug now tho, seems to be a new spiecies, a tiny little black fly that stings, it is a nasty piece of work, it has cause several people to hospitalised from its sting, with several of the cases being record, medical attention has been required for a large ammount of people stung by this little bug, which leaves a lot of swelling and blisters, they have closed large areas of the country where this thing is found in large nunbers, but it is already getting wide spread, another bug born of chemical intervention ???, maybe, who knows.

I went out today to check on some Brugs that I had rooting outside in some Mcdonalds cups and noticed a lot of mosquitoes flying around. I decided I would start rootings on the inside from now on. One source for breeding done away with.

Ragamuffin every since I was a kid I have done a lot (both work and money) for animals and wildlife habitat. That includes both game and non-game species.
I just disagree with the phrase "animal rights". Here's why very very shortly put. Animals are just that animals. They are not humans and they don't have a soul. Therefore I don't believe they have rights. I have a house and a car. I don't believe they have rights either However I do believe I have a responsiblity to take care of them. I take the type of approach to animals. I think that now a days we throw the word "rights" around to much. I think we need to throw the word "responsiblity" around a LOT more.
Animal rights folks believe that every living thing has rights (paraphrased from the PETA site). If that is what they beleive... Then the killing of a pup is the same as killing a bug or a plant. And what about germs and viruses. In calif. we put a guy in prison (rightly so) because he killed a dog in revenge. However when I do a spring cleaning I kill trillions and trillions more lives. Should I be in prision? Or what about taking antibiotics for an infection. If living things really do have rights then isn't it wrong for us to pull/kill a weed? Didn't it have a right to be there? What about using organic or non-organic methods to kill or deter insects, plants or bugs from doing what comes natural isn't that treading on their "rights"? If a fox kills a rabbit should we put the fox in jail for violating the rabbits rights? Or is it OK since the rabbit was eating the grass which violated the grass's rights to grow... Animal rights is a scare slope we are starting down.
Actually ragamuffin you and I would probably agree on way than either of us would beleive.

Hey Georgiaredclay!

Glad to see a neighbor here...I live about 20 minutes from you just aways down from Valley, Al...

Maybe we could get together a garden party sometime!

Cheers,
Reb

I"m sure you're right, Sari, when you say you and I would probably agree on a lot. :) About PETA certainly! Their main goal seems to be to stir up trouble, but they don't practice what they preach. Their shelter in Virginia euthanizes more pets than any other in the state - they claim it's better for a dog or cat to be dead than spend weeks in a cage. All the money they drag in from high school kids who think they sound cool, you'd think they could build better long-term housing for unwanted pets! BTW a friend of mine once worked a short while for Ingrid Newkirk and says she's a first-class b***h!

It all depends, I guess, how we define "rights". Like us, animals should have the right not to be tortured, starved or abandoned like garbage. On the other hand, we should have the right to kill disease-carrying bugs, rats and whatever threatens us directly. Unlike you, I believe all animals and plants have souls (though not exactly like ours). Of course, I still eat them when I have to, that's the way nature works. :) And if my neighbor's pitbull/beagle cross (guess which side he got his brains from!) tries to attack me again, I will surely take his head off with my brush hook.

But nine times out of ten, when someone starts complaining too loudly about animal rights, it turns out they've had abused pets taken from them, or are running a nasty puppy mill, or keeping tigers in a backyard cage, or some such foolishness. Then they complain that their right to abuse helpless creatures has been abrogated by animal rights activists, when it's just people at the pound doing their job. Tcha!

Well I have to add a little more of my thought and hope NOT to offend anyone. I have about 5 adult cats, 10 kiitens, 3 dogs, and a yard full of chickens oh and 2 goldfish. I dont mistreat my animals and I dont believe it is right to do so. However what makes me made is animals are animals they are not on the same level as humans. Some of these animal rights people dont believe that and some I believe think they are above humans. My problem is that there are humans starving, there are humans being abused, there are humans being molested, and who knows what else. What is so sad is alot of these humans are children. And on that note I say to hell with animals lets save the children.
Thats about my thought I would never intentionaly hurt an animal but I would stand up for a human alot faster than any animal!

Ok sorry Im thru.
Shannan

Ragamuffin I use to have beagles to rabbit hunt with. I assure you they have NO brain! They are all nose. I did love them. BTW we shot very few rabbit. We just like to watch the rabbits and beagles run. After running rabbits for years I really really beleive that the rabbits enjoyed it on some level. Many times I have watch the rabbit run right past his hole and flat out refuse to go in. The more we ran the dogs in an area the more that happen.
Other than the soul thing I think we agree 100%.
Shannan I couldn't agree more with you about abused and starving children. BTW Never be sorry for voicing your opinion (politely which you did). That is one of the advantages to living in a free country.
Back to the WNV issue.
Has anyone heard anything about how WNV affects the eating quality of mosquitos? If they are still ok to eat. I was hoping they might liberalize the daily bag limit and/or extend the season. I only shot and froze 3 this year and I just don't think it will be enough to get us through till spring. I'm not going to say Michigan mosquitos are big just that they take blood by the quart. :~)

Sari,

You are so right about beagle brains! LOL! We had a beagle when I was growing up - she was a great rabbit dog, used to find the baby bunnies and carry them home - alive - to us.

Shannan,

You wouldn't be human if you didn't care more for your own species, right? Especially the young ones - but if you don't save the kids before they turn five or so, it's almost impossible to break the chain of abuse, unfortunately. I suspect the people who seem to care more for animals than people have been in the same situation as Mark Twain, who once wrote, "You can befriend a starving dog by the side of the road, feed him, and he'll never bite you. That's the principle difference between a dog and a man."

PS: Only bagged one skeeter today :( Must be the drought....

Well sari if you cant get your daily bag there come on down we have enough to share.LOL And Ragamuffin I dont really agree with the idea of saving a child before age 5. I do believe alot is learned in the first 5 years but I continue to learn each day God gives me on the earth, so I cant believe all chances are shot if not reached by 5. And about Mark Twain, I would rather take a chance of being bite than to say I never lifted a finger to help because of fear.
Shannan