Letter to the Editor

Vote for mosquito district

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Dear editor:

Please encourage all of your readers to vote " YES " for the formation of a permanent pest (mosquito) abatement district at the general election on Nov. 4.

Have you and others noticed the decrease of mosquitoes and the cases of the deadly infection with "West Nile Virus" in Elmore?

As chairman of Elmore's Mosquito Abatement Committee, I can tell you that the decrease in bugs and bites has been the result of an extensive and combined effort of Elmore County, City of Mountain Home and the State of Idaho programs and personnel.

As a nurse, I will sleep better knowing our efforts have saved numerous patient lives, their livelihoods, futures and their life savings, for the cost of many hospitalizations and months of rehabilitation from one untimely bite.

Our efforts have also improved the quality of life enjoyed by all of us during the spring and summer months during our outdoor activities. Our present abatement program is working!

Two years ago Elmore County experienced one of the highest rates of infection for West Nile Virus since the disease was first introduced into the State in 2004. Our county rate of disease (67), hospitalizations (10), and death (2) due to West Nile Virus prompted our state government to provide emergency funding for aerial sprayings and mosquito surveillance and abatement efforts.

Experts from the Central District Health Department and Elmore County Disaster and Extension departments provided critical information for public health education and expertise. Their jobs were to provide global positioning coordinates that programmed computers to determine when the sprayers were to be turned off or on to protect local beekeepers, organic farms and fish ponds in the Mountain Home parks and other biological sensitive areas. These detailed "maps" were developed in three days by our local experts and provided valuable information to the professionals that systematically flew over and sprayed 50,000 acres in two evenings!

Luckily for us, shortly after the spraying Mother Nature provided a killing freeze to end the pests' invasion of 2006.

This break gave us time to develop a plan for their control and the formation of a countywide pest abatement program for 2007 and 2008.

Our Mosquito Abatement Committee has been well organized to include Mr. Nick Schilz, Disaster Services Director, Professor Mir Seyedbagheri of the University of Idaho and Extension Ag Educator, Nikki Sakata, Mosquito Surveillance and Statistics co-coordinator from the Central District Health Department and Mr. Arlie Shaw, Mrs. Connie Cruser and Mr. Larry Rose, our county commissioners.

Multiple citizen volunteers, including myself, participated and divided into committees to help develop an organization to control the pest population by identifying their breeding grounds and reduce mosquito larvae before they hatched.

Maps have been made and trouble spots identified. CO2 traps were set and mosquito species were collected for study.

Did you know there is over 100 species of mosquito in Elmore County?

I learned that the species "Culex" is not only the carrier for the virus but is the first to hatch in the spring and the hardiest through the early frosts of fall. The Culex mosquitoes can be easily identified by the trained eye as a much bigger and darker bug than its kin, the "nuisance mosquito."

By using natural lavacides in the form of "Mosquito Dunks" in ponds, ditches, bird-baths and other persistent standing waters we were able to prevent trillions of mosquitoes from becoming flying public health pests.

With extensive public health educational programs and media campaigning we used our citizens' help to locate and report suspicious standing water and increased insect activity to our hotline and abatement professionals.

We have been able to cancel proposed plans for additional aerial spraying for mosquito control and have saved our taxpayers thousands of dollars.

This year's countywide surveillance indicated that the West Nile Virus was less widespread than in 2007. However the higher concentrations of positive mosquitoes carrying the virus were trapped in Mountain Home with the largest burden of the disease occurring north and southeast of town. These areas warranted and received aggressive abatement efforts this year.

Only a permanent PEST ABATEMENT DISTRICT will protect us from mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus and other future vector-borne diseases harmful to our "public health."

We need a simple majority vote for this tax-based program to continue our pest reduction work. For $10 dollars a year per $100,000 property value we can continue to provide expert insect surveillance and treatment and reduce the risk for human exposure and West Nile Virus victims. This equates to a few pennies a day!

Our initiative is located on the backside of the November ballot!

Please encourage your readers to turn their ballot over and vote " YES " for the formation of a permanent pest (mosquito) abatement district at the general election on November 4th. Let us sleep well knowing we have all helped " Fight the Bite" in Elmore County.

Marsha Sellers R.N.,

Chairman for the Elmore County Pest Abatement District