An Opinion Contributed by Carol Reims
I'm a granola-crunchy. Heck, I once lived in a commune and helped raise free range chickens! So, as you can imagine, the last thing in the world I'd buy or use is an evil concoction called DEET. After all, it is the furthest thing from "natural" that one could imagine. If I'm going to prevent mosquitoes from annoying me, I'll do it the natural way. I'll wear long-sleeved clothing, all natural fibers, of course. I'll wear a big old hat with a screened veil, gardening gloves, socks and shoes. I may be hot, but perspiration is all-natural, so how can I complain?
Hmm…what's it called? West Nile Virus? What, crows are dropping like flies all over our state? It can do what to me? With all the media hype and last summer's scare about a dread new disease, I'm wondering how long our resolve to be eco-friendly is going to last…
Where was the public outpouring of fury when entire communities where sprayed with poisons last summer to prevent the spread of West Nile Virus? How many people, particularly elderly people, began staying indoors after the sun began to go down? How much do we have to fear, really?
Following is a list of resource sites about the West Nile Virus. Find out the facts, the real facts, and then decide for yourselves what exactly we have to fear and what should we do about it all.
- http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/
The West Nile Virus Home Page of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) an agency of the US government.
- http://cindi.usgs.gov/hazard/event/west_nile/west_nile.html
US Geological Survey. West Nile Virus Maps - 2002.
- www.usgs.gov/west_nile_virus.html
Fact sheets and advisories from the US Geological Survey as well as link to additional information.
- http://westnilevirus.nbii.gov/
Provides data, information, and maps related to outbreaks of the West Nile virus and mosquito-borne diseases.
- www.westnile.state.pa.us/
News releases and information about the disease in the state of Pennsylvania.
- www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/westnilevirus.html
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is the primary NIH organization
for research on West Nile Virus.
- http://npic.orst.edu/wnv/
Features disease information, links, statistics, and maps.
- www.nwhc.usgs.gov/research/west_nile/west_nile.html
USGS is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn the current geographic extent of WNV, to understand how it moves between birds, mosquitoes, and humans, and to predict future movements of the virus.
- www.cfe.cornell.edu/erap/WNV/
Bibliography, including links, of scientific articles related to the West Nile Virus.
- www.state.ma.us/dph/wnv/wnv1.htm
Includes hotline, daily mosquito and bird update, news releases, and fact sheets.
- www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wnv/wnvhome.html
NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene west nile virus information including spray schedules, positive result summary, and control plan.
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