Saratoga News
News
Meeting can't take the bite out of West Nile fogging concerns
By Shannon Burkey
The recent discovery of the West Nile virus in a 65-year-old Saratoga man and the news that Santa Clara County has had more West Nile-positive birds than any other county in the state has many Saratoga residents alarmed.
In an effort to provide information and answer questions from the public, officials from the Santa Clara County Vector Control District and the Department of Environmental Health discussed their next course of action to a group of about 60 Saratoga residents who attended an Aug. 22 community meeting at the Saratoga Civic Theatre.
"Saratoga is an area that we have determined to be at a very high risk for transmission of the West Nile virus," said Department of Environmental Health Director Ben Gale.
In addition to the one human case in Saratoga, 27 percent of the dead birds collected in the Saratoga area have tested positive for the virus, according to Dr. Noor Tietze, scientific director for Vector Control.
While many people are worried about contracting the West Nile virus, many of those at the meeting were also worried about how the pesticides from the fogging will affect them, their animals and their outdoor plant and garden life.
During fogging, county workers mist the area with Pyrenone 25-5, an insecticide derived from chrysanthemum flowers that affects the nervous system of insects. According to Russ Parman, Vector Control assistant manager, humans rapidly metabolize Pyrenon 25-5, and it is not harmful to humans or pets.
"This is the same product sold over the counter in flea shampoos and shampoos for head lice," Parman said.
However, Saratoga resident Cheriel Jensen said she is not convinced that Pyrenon 25-5 is not harmful to humans or animals, and she would like to see Vector Control do an environmental report before it attempts any more fogging.
Since the first fogging occurred, she said she has had, among other symptoms, swollen eyes, headaches, a sore throat and a rash.
"There were some nights that I didn't think I was going to make it," Jensen said. "These people are sacrificing my health for the health of someone who may or may not get sick. I know that nobody wants to get West Nile, but nobody wants to be poisoned, either."
But with the recent human case in Saratoga and the fact that positive birds are still being discovered all over the area, Vector Control found it necessary to fog the Saratoga area again Aug. 23.
The fogging covered a 5 1/2-square-mile area, considered the "hot zone," that includes 5,400 residences.
"Fogging is, of course, the last resort," said Gale, adding that the recent activity has made it necessary.
With six to seven weeks of prime West Nile virus season still left, Gale said it is important for residents to take a few minutes each day to dump any standing water on their property and to report any bodies of water in their area that could be a possible mosquito breeding ground.
"It only takes one swimming pool in a neighborhood to wreak havoc," Gale said. "These pools can breed millions and millions of mosquitoes each."
