Back to the West Nile Virus listserv archive.

Date: 8 Aug 2003
Posted by: Zohair Mohsen
KTIPIT@aol.com

Additional feedback on NYTimes Op Ed piece.
Perhaps the individuals submitting these thoughtful responses to 
WestNileVirus-L should also make their voices heard at the NY Times. 
Or, with the permission of those who are writing, we could submit a 
composite of your comments.-LCL

----
[1]
From: "Zohair Mohsen" <zmohsen@comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003

It is interesting that we are coming to believe in what several countries
are doing even now to control malaria vectors. I mean the residual
application of DDT during the fifties and seventies in countries endemic
with malaria. It was found that Anopheles stephensi, the major vector of
malaria in Middle Eastern countries , mainly Iraq, developed what we call
behavioral resistance, i.e., the females avoided resting on treated
surfaces. So as far as I believe that residual spray may be needed to
control WNV at one point, we should not ignore the development of this type
of resistance. Only few years of spray, the vector A. stephensi was able to
develop this behavioral avoidance mechanism.
Zohair Mohsen, Ph.D.
Pres. A-Z Pest Control



[2]
From: KTIPIT@aol.com
Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003

I feel the need to reply to this op-ed on use of DDT for WNV.
1) Mr. Henry I. Miller's remark about public health being "tepid in 
its response & designed to avoid controversy." This is simply not 
so---in most cases.  The response to the WNV epidemic was 
appropriate--Based on the history of other arboviral trends.  WNV can 
lead to serious illness, but the threat is relatively small, compared 
to some other communicable diseases (tuberculosis, for one). Also, 
Dengue fever and malaria are cause much more morbidity and mrtality 
than WNV, EEE, WEE, LaCrosse,SLE
2) The advice that CDC & American Mosquito Control Association et al, 
to avoid outdoor activity during peak biting hours, to wear 
light-colored clothing & long sleeves & long pants & use an insect 
repellent with DEET, is sound.
3) Integrated Pest Management is THE accepted method of mosquito 
control. It does include the use of pesticides.  There is also a 
heavy surveillance component. The main message is know which 
mosquitoes inhabit your area & eliminate/alter mosquito breeding 
habitats. This means that YOU, the consumer, need to do your part as 
well. Get rid of the dixie cups, dog bowls, planters, ornamental 
ponds----all of which are preferred breeding sites for mosquitoes.
4) IPM does advocate use of larvacides.  The goal of larvacides is to 
get to the larvae & papae before they develop into the adult. 
Larvacides come in different forms: donuts, briquets, oil sprays etc. 
Larvacides (donuts/briquet)should be used in catch basins, early in 
the spring (good for about150 days), and continued use of different 
formslarvacide products throughout the breeding season. One type of 
larvacide interrupts the developmental cycle so that the larvae & 
pupae will not develop into the adult.  4) Adulticide is only used 
when adults are biting.  The fog is a calibrated droplet size to 
maximize contact with mosquitoes while they are in the air.  Droplets 
are just the right size that they will hit the mosquitoes, but go 
around the other insects.  There is minimal effect on the environment 
because there is little residual. 5) One of the biggest problems with 
the response to this and other public health issues, is the LACK OF 
FUNDING.  When we can get our legislaters and our public to 
understand the fundamental importance of public health activities, 
then we wouldn't be tempted to bring back a documented environmental 
hazard like DDT.

Kris Trotter
ktipit@aol.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WESTNILEVIRUS-L is an email discussion group for communication and
discussion about West Nile Virus, particularly regarding policy, risk
reduction and public education issues. It is moderated by Dr. Lois Levitan,
Program Leader of the Cornell Environmental Risk Analysis Program.
Subscribers are encouraged to post to the group by sending an email to:
WESTNILEVIRUS-L@cornell.edu.  Postings must be written in plain,
unformatted text, and sent without attachments.  The subject line must
begin with the identifier [WNV-L], followed by a meaningful subject
description.  Archives are posted at:
http://environmentalrisk.cornell.edu/WNV/WNV-LArchiveIndex.cfm.
To subscribe (or unsubscribe), send an email request to
envrisk@cornell.edu. To receive messages once a day in digest
format, subscribers should send an email to listproc@cornell.edu
with message: "set WESTNILEVIRUS-L mail digest-nomime".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------