Hastings-Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health and the County plan to begin this year’s fight against West Nile Virus.
The County plans to authorize the start of activities that will help control the mosquito-spread virus. This includes funds to begin larviciding parts of the County, which will quell mosquito larvae numbers. If authorized by the County, the HPE Public Health will decide if the risk is great enough to begin culling the mosquito population. The move comes after two human cases of West Nile Virus were detected last year, the first since monitoring began. The Health Unit would not release where these cases were recorded.
However, in North Hastings, Public Health says that the risk is very low. Andrew Landly, Manager of Healthy Environments at the Unit, says they operate two mosquito traps in the Bancroft area, which they monitor for the virus. Species that are known for carrying the virus have been low for the last 5 years. In addition, there has not been a positive test for West Nile in their North Hastings surveillance pools since 2003.