I've still got the itch.
"EEE risk called worst in decades" by Kay Lazar and Zachary T. Sampson | Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent, August 08, 2012
This year’s infestation of mosquitoes infected with Eastern equine encephalitis is the most intense that Massachusetts has experienced in three decades, a top health official said Tuesday as the state announced a second round of aerial spraying.
I don't what they are dumping on you, but it can't be good. And for what? One death?
Barely two weeks after blanketing 21 Southeastern communities with pesticide, officials said that planes will again take to the skies over six of the cities and towns to prevent human-biting mosquitoes from spreading the often-fatal virus to residents.
No human cases have been reported yet, but health specialists are concerned about the threat to the public.
“It’s extremely important that residents in these communities take immediate steps to protect themselves and their families from mosquito bites,” said John Auerbach, the state’s public health commissioner.
Typically, the first batches of infected mosquitoes are seen in late July or early August, but this season, disease trackers found them weeks earlier.
“We have seen mammal-biting EEE-positive mosquitoes earlier this year than in anyone’s memory,” Auerbach said in an interview. He added that surveillance traps are catching an unusually high concentration of the infected insects.
A weekend of spraying July 20-22 reduced the mosquito populations by 60 percent in the areas covered, but large numbers of the insects are being seen in the region.
The communities to be sprayed again are Bridgewater, Easton, Norton, Raynham, Taunton, and West Bridgewater. Auerbach said two-thirds of the mosquito samples with Eastern equine encephalitis found since the initial round of spraying have been found in these six towns, with 21 insect pools found in Easton alone.
“It isn’t surprising that we have found a concentration in those communities,” Auerbach said, noting that they surround the Hockomock Swamp, a vast wetland that is a prime breeding ground for the type of mosquitoes that carry the virus....
I'm beginning to think this is about chemical company contract$ and government spending.
33-year-old Melissa MacKinnon, [as she] pushed her 2-year-old son in a stroller toward the Center School playground, said the threat of mosquitoes has not changed her way of living.
“It’s not stopping me from doing anything that I would normally do, just way more cautious,” MacKinnon said.
Eastern equine encephalitis has not been found in human-biting mosquitos outside Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod this year, but mosquitoes infected with the less serious West Nile virus have been found across the state.
I haven't seen many mosquitoes out here this year, and don't believe I've been bitten once.
Insect specialists say it is not clear what is driving the spike in EEE-carrying mosquitoes this year and the earlier detection of infected insects. Some point to the unusually mild winter that may have protected many more mosquito larvae that normally would have died....
Not everyone was happy at the prospect of more aerial spraying. Beth Connors, 47, a lifelong Easton resident, was walking her cockapoo along with other walkers around the gravel track at Frothingham Park as the sun set.
She said she is more concerned about the pesticide than the mosquitoes, explaining that she thinks most of the infected mosquitoes were found in Hockomock Swamp, where there is stagnant water but not many people. Connors said she has seen more dead birds and small animals around town this year than in the past.
My thought exactly. I'm MORE CONCERNED about POLLUTION and the POISONS being dumped into our air, soil, and water, than the fart-misting agenda.
“You’re poisoning all the stuff around here, and you’re killing all our other birds, and I’m not happy about that,” she said.
Connors said she pulls anything she eats from her yard, such as fresh basil, into her house because she does not want it outside when chemicals are sprayed. She said people can avoid mosquitoes easily.
“It’s dusk, you know there’s bugs outside, you put bug spray on your kids, or you stay inside,” she said.
Aerial spraying often sparks concerns about health risks to residents and potential environmental damage to crops and waterways. State officials say they have taken those concerns seriously in selecting sumithrin, a pesticide that is combined with piperonyl butoxide, a compound that activates sumithrin. The pesticide is also known by the brand name Anvil 10+10. They say the combination breaks down very rapidly when exposed to sunlight and has very low toxicity to humans and animals.
Does this state seriously think we believe them anymore?
Behind the West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School, Kenny and Joehnna Barros of nearby Brockton said they had not heard about the EEE threat. They said they routinely work out at the playing fields behind the school, surrounded on two sides by trees.
As night fell and Joehnna, 30, swatted a mosquito near her face, Kenny, 29, said the couple would guard more closely against mosquitoes. “We’ll come a little bit earlier,” he said, adding that they will also use bug spray now that they know about the presence of EEE.
Propping up some bug $pray $ales, too.
Two human cases of EEE were reported last year in the state, including a Raynham man who died.
Officials said spraying will begin as soon as possible, following appropriate public notification and outreach. They said ground-spraying cannot be done in the six communities because trucks cannot easily reach the areas around the swamp.
Residents are encouraged to check local news outlets and the state website at www.mass.gov/dph for further details.
--more--"
Also see: Aerial spraying expanded to combat EEE
Spraying for mosquitoes continues in Southeastern Mass.
Mosquito spraying skips New Bedford for now
EEE-positive mosquitoes found in sample
Man with EEE was apparently infected out of state
EEE-carrying mosquitoes found in Reading
Which I have obviously stopped doing with my Boston Globes.
I'm sorry, readers, but I think I'm done for the evening because I'm getting eaten alive.
Next Day Update: Officials confirm state’s first West Nile infection of the year
