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For Immediate Release • July 19, 2011
Staff Contact: Dan Wolford, Parks, Open Space, and Greenways Manager, 303-774-4691
View the most recent Press Releases.
JULY 19, 2011 - The region's first confirmed human case of West Nile Virus and elevated mosquito numbers are prompting the City of Longmont to spray five areas of the city with adulticide on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 beginning around 9 pm, weather permitting. Those areas include
Boulder County Public Health confirmed the first case of West Nile Virus today (see news release). A 47-year-old Longmont woman reported that she first became ill on July 4. She developed a severe head ache, body aches, and extreme fatigue. She was not hospitalized, and her symptoms have since improved.
“I hope this will remind people that although we don’t hear as much about West Nile virus as we used to, it’s still a risk,” said Murielle Romine, BCPH Communicable Disease Control program coordinator. “I cannot emphasize enough that we all still need to take steps to protect ourselves and our families.”
The adulticide is applied by truck in ultra low volumes (.007 lbs/acre) with a water based chemical that is very effective against mosquitoes. This chemical is applied in the later evening hours when mosquitoes are most active. The designated threshold for spraying is triggered when any one of 14 trap sites throughout the City encounters adult mosquitoes of 100 or greater and 50% or greater of those trapped are of the Culex species or once WNV positive mosquitoes are found in any of the surveillance zones associated with Larimer, Weld or Boulder Counties and our trap counts exceed 100 adult mosquitoes.
These trap sites are monitored and evaluated on a weekly basis by Colorado Mosquito Control. This information is shared between CMC, the Boulder County Public Health Department and the City. Typical hotspots for mosquito activity generally concentrate around water. These locations include Boulder County Fairgrounds, Jim Hamm Park, Sandstone Ranch, Union Reservoir and the St. Vrain Greenway.
The City of Longmont has contracted with Colorado Mosquito Control (CMC) to implement an integrated pest management program to combat mosquitoes that might carry the West Nile Virus. This program focuses on first attacking mosquitoes in their larval stage before they become airborne. This is the best method since it eliminates mosquitoes before they hatch. This method also minimizes fogging to kill the adult, airborne bugs. However, some localized spraying might be necessary.
The Boulder County Mosquito Control District spray schedule is published every Tuesday in the Boulder Daily Camera and Longmont Times-Call. The City of Longmont Spray Schedule normally appears every Tuesday in the Longmont Times-Call in conjunction with the Boulder County Mosquito Control Program ad but the late notification prevented the ad from appearing in its normal Tuesday slot. An ad should appear on Wednesday.
July and August are typically the high point for mosquito season in Colorado and the threat of West Nile Virus mosquitoes is at its highest according to Dan Wolford, Longmont's Parks, Open Space and Greenways Manager. He reminds the public that the most effective means of combating the west nile virus is to remember the 4 Ds:
Drain standing water outside the home.
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