Anonymous
Source: Mosquito & Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County
A sample of mosquitoes collected from a mosquito trap in Santa Barbara has tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV), according to the Mosquito & Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County. The mosquitoes were trapped as part of ongoing surveillance for the recently discovered invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that were discovered earlier this month.
“This is not the first time West Nile virus has been found in Santa Barbara County,” says District General Manager Brian Cabrera, “but it has been three years since it was last detected.”
Humans can get WNV from the bite of an infected mosquito. However, most people who acquire the virus don’t know they are infected and don’t develop any symptoms. But about 1 in 5 people who are infected develop symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle ache and nausea. In about 1% of people who get WNV, infection can lead to serious complications including encephalitis or meningitis, coma and even death.
Residents are urged to take action to “Fight the Bite” which includes the “Three Ds”:
Deet – use Deet or other repellents approved by the Environmental Protection Agency;
Dawn and Dusk – avoid being outside at these times when the mosquitoes are most active;
Drain – empty all sources of stagnant water that mosquitoes will lay their eggs in including buckets, bird baths, clogged rain gutters, old tires, containers of all kinds, unused hot tubs, etc.
Wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants can also provide protection from mosquitoes. Larger sources where mosquitoes are breeding, such as neglected swimming pools or stagnant water in creek beds and washes, for example, can be reported to the District at (805) 969-5050.
Wild birds are the main source of the virus for mosquitoes. Crows, ravens, jays and magpies, are especially susceptible to the virus and often get sick and die after they are infected. Residents are urged to report dead birds to the California Department of Public Health’s “Dead Bird Hotline”. If the dead birds are still in good condition, the District will pick them up and have them tested for WNV. Reports can be filed online at http://westnile.ca.gov/report.php or by calling 1-877-968-2473 (1-877-WNV-BIRD). Horses are also susceptible to the virus but, fortunately, a vaccine is available.
The California Department of Public Health has a West Nile Virus website with lots of valuable information as well as an “Insect Repellent Toolkit” website with information on how you can protect you and your family from mosquito bites. These sites can be found at:
http://westnile.ca.gov/
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Dont-Give-Bugs-a-Biting-Chance.aspx
Are you so blasé enough to assume you won’t mind getting it being in the 1%?
More fear for the sheep.
The indicator species for WNV are corvids and amateur astronomers.
China did an admirable job protecting their populace. That’s a primary function of government, just in case you think it only consists of pandering to the rich.
It’s true that you prefer judging based on bias and opinion, rather than facts, but the facts are:
China: 91,224 cases, 4,739 deaths in a population of 1,393 million
USA: 8,836,861 cases, 227,409 deaths in a population of 328.2 million
Any rational analysis of those numbers leads to the conclusion that they did a much better job than we did.
Anything even remotely approaching the true China number will never be known. But for sake of argument, let’s use it. China has the capacity, ability and willingness to rescind any/all freedoms. I would have thought virtually everyone on here recognized (and realized) the sheer terror of that! Obviously not! Using your logic North Korea did a much better job than us too. Yes, We screwed up and made a lot of mistakes… but thank god we didn’t surrender all our power and Freedom to an authoritarian leader to do with as they saw fit. You are using the argument that the “ends justify the means”… and as such China or North Korea might be a better spot for you..
Ah yes, the freedumb defense, and any numbers you don’t agree with must be lies.
It must be tough being mired in the propaganda of the 1950s, resurrected by trump’s demagoguery.
I’ll say it again. A 226 day lockdown and forced muzzle is NOT reasonable. I would rather be happy Mr. magoo over spending every waking moment trying to hide from and freaking out about a cold and now apparently Zika again. Don’t forget to wear your mosquito mesh hat over your mask.
420, No one in the US is wearing a mask if they don’t want to. Have heard of very few people cited for this. Most essential businesses have been open the whole time. Churches regularly flout the gathering rules. We’ve only tried to limit business models that required close personal contact. The government should have helped these businesses more than they did but unfortunately the Senate refused to do the business of the people. Hopefully that will change next week.
If you don’t like China’s government, pick Japan, or South Korea, or Singapore, or Malaysia, or Australia, or New Zealand…… Plenty of less repressive governments in the area did a better job than us in responding to the pandemic.
Gov Newscum is going to keep us on lockdown for this too
Clever namecalling, haven’t seen that before. Not.
You seem like Mr. Magoo, blindly ignoring dangers in the modern world. A reasonable amount of concern is not sheeplike at all. But your stance is way cool.
Mountainman465 , The Obama Administration handled it the right way and nipped it in the bud. That’s what good Presidents do. They care about ALL Americans.
The Obama Administration had nothing to do with Zika going away. Zika was self-limiting, as immunity became widespread after the initial outbreak, and the disease has subsided. It is now considered endemic in Latin America, although new cases are still being reported, and the virus is believed to be circulating at low levels. Covid will follow the same path, unfortunately with much more death and destruction in its wake, both as a result of the virus itself and the consequences of our shutdown policies.
VOR, you mean lackluster shutdown policies that didn’t accomplish what they were supposed to. China and other asian nations taught the world what you can accomplish with real shutdown policies and a robust contact tracing system. But Trump and his supporters wanted to be number 1 in the world in something, so they chose total Covid deaths.