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Dallas West Nile Virus Outbreak Leads Texas City's Mayor To Approve Aerial Spraying

By SARAH KUTA   08/15/12 02:45 PM ET  AP

DALLAS -- Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings on Wednesday declared the city's recent West Nile virus outbreak to be a state of emergency and authorized the first aerial spraying of insecticide in the city in more than 45 years.

Dallas and other North Texas cities have agreed to the rare use of aerial spraying from planes to combat the nation's worst outbreak of West Nile virus so far this year. Dallas last had aerial spraying in 1966, when more than a dozen deaths were blamed on encephalitis.

More than 200 cases of West Nile and 10 deaths linked to the virus have been reported across Dallas County, where officials authorized aerial spraying last week. State health department statistics show 381 cases and 16 deaths related to West Nile statewide.

"The number of cases, the number of deaths are remarkable, and we need to sit up and take notice," Rawlings said during a city council briefing. "We do have a serious problem right now."

Aerial spraying for mosquitoes could begin Thursday evening, depending on weather conditions. The state health department, which will pay for the $500,000 aerial spraying with emergency funds, has a contract with national spraying company Clarke. Clarke officials have said two to five planes will be used in Dallas County.

Dallas City Council members voiced concerns about aerial spraying's health effects on humans and animals. Rawlings said the aerial dosage will be much lower than the dosage used so far during ground spraying. He also said aerial spraying recently has been safely used in California, Massachusetts and New York.

The city charter allows Rawlings to declare a state of emergency and request aerial spraying, but the City Council would have to approve additional action beyond seven days.

State health commissioner Dr. David Lakey, who participated in the briefing via telephone, reiterated the seriousness of the situation in Dallas, saying half of all West Nile cases in the United States so far this year are in Texas.

"There is a public health emergency related to West Nile right now," Lakey said. "The risk of air-based spraying is minimal versus the ongoing spread of West Nile."

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FOLLOW HUFFPOST GREEN

DALLAS -- Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings on Wednesday declared the city's recent West Nile virus outbreak to be a state of emergency and authorized the first aerial spraying of insecticide in the city in ...
DALLAS -- Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings on Wednesday declared the city's recent West Nile virus outbreak to be a state of emergency and authorized the first aerial spraying of insecticide in the city in ...
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Daphne Wysham
Fellow, IPS
05:11 PM on 08/21/2012
An important bit of information on this site about how spraying can actually increase the population of mosquitoes by killing their predators. http://www.panna.org/legacy/panups/panup_20030915.dv.html
11:03 AM on 08/20/2012
Question: How do the mosquitos find them in the South...don't they all wear camo everywhere?
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zogimperator
is this microbiology?
01:21 AM on 08/20/2012
Hey, that science stuff is okay after all. As long as it's scientific pizen.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dallas Dunlap
05:02 PM on 08/19/2012
If you guys are impressed by West Nile virus, wait until you meet dengue fever.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
gr8abz
07:59 AM on 08/18/2012
Most ares of the U.S, up until about the last fifteen years, each winter there would normally be an extended number of days or weeks when temperatures would drop to well below freezing and remain there. Bitter cold weather may not be popular with a lot of us, but it was a natural annual occurrence that served a natural purpose. One of them is keeping the insect population from getting out of control. Mosquito larvae nests are usually found about six inches below the soil. Freezing temps kill off excess quantities of mosquito larvae providing these temperatures are low enough and are sustained long enough to eventually permeate down to that level beneath the ground. While many of us hate the cold, this is one of its blessings. Extreme cold also kills of certain bacteria and limits the spread of viruses. The Native Americans referred to the cold winds from the North as the great purifiers. They were smart people. And for those who still do not subscribe to the reality of Global Warming, my hunch is most of you will be giving it some more thought at the very least as some very erratic and unpleasant weather becomes more common. Bear in mind, a roque winter with severe snows does not disprove Global Warming despite what the gang at Fox News says. Climate scientists agree that climate change creates bizarre shifts in weather patterns and increased moisture in the atmosphere adds to the intensity of storms.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mikala
04:58 PM on 08/17/2012
Part of the problem with West Nile is that so many different species of mosquito can be a carrier which makes targeting spraying efforts harder. Get use to it people as our climate warms we will see more and more arthropod born infectious diseases that use to be here return along with others like West Nile and that could include Yellow Fever.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/brochure.htm
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Early Cuyler
DO NOT TOUCH THE TRIM !!!!!
12:05 PM on 08/17/2012
Git Rick Perry down there to "shoot" all them skeeters with his pistol !
10:58 AM on 08/20/2012
Pray 'em away Rick like you did for rain.
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Early Cuyler
DO NOT TOUCH THE TRIM !!!!!
08:20 PM on 08/20/2012
well,  yea
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Gonzo333
10:16 AM on 08/17/2012
This is a result of the non- existent climate change.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cheechazteca
Thank you very much!
10:16 PM on 08/16/2012
What's next? Agent Orange?
09:58 PM on 08/16/2012
Spraying in areas where the weather is hot, humid and the climate/environment makes prolific breeding of mosquitoes is NOT uncommon...nor is it "new" or even "newsworthy"....aside from warning the general public to take measures to protect themselves from bloodborne pathogens carried by the lil critters!

Ya know, stuff like malaria, WNV, etc.....nothing new here folks. Dump rain water out of stuff sitting outside (trash cans, buckets, birdbaths, etc)....wear bug spray, cover as much skin as possible....and stay inside when possible during those peak "skeeter bite" hours of the day/night.

Duh.
10:36 PM on 08/16/2012
I'm in Dallas and every summer there are trucks that go down the alleys and spray. This is new to us, (in the last 40+ years) because it is aerial spraying. We've been trying to combat this for awhile. You listed the key steps that the local news encourages nightly but that doesn't mean the mosquitos will just go away
08:17 AM on 08/18/2012
No, the bugs wont go away....they never have and never will. We are battling some of the same up in the northeast as well.

So what can you do when bugs make ppl sick and/or die? Protect yourself against them.

Nothing else can really be done. Not realistically.

Hence the "duh".
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jeremyewilliams
Reality is not the GOPs cup of tea!
06:24 AM on 08/17/2012
Wrong, it's new to a lot of areas.
08:26 AM on 08/18/2012
but its not "new" in general. Im not sure why aerial bug spraying is 'newsworthy" in the first place?

Would we have lengthy reports aboput crop-dusting farmer's fields? No?

Same thing here for the most part, ppl.
09:55 PM on 08/16/2012
Hey AOL 'Green' - you should be promoting Greenbug which offers safe, effective and completely natural mosquito control. Killing wildlife (plus accumulating poisons in the environment) is ill-advised. Greenbug for People is a great mosquito repellent that I have used for my family with great success and I highly recommend it. www.greenbugallnatural.com
02:30 PM on 08/17/2012
Actually NO.

No, no, and NO.

It's insane to ask a news media to promote a commercial product.

Admittedly, HuffPost is a very weak example of news media, but it's job is to report the news.

NOT to promote commercial products.
09:12 PM on 08/16/2012
This is a major potential problem, especially if these numbers keep rising. Contact your local pest control provider, or even the big names if you don't trust local companies. Heck, if it is something you can't afford you can always do it yourself. Cedarcide pest control chemicals are safe on the environment, your home, and your pets if you don't trust strong man made chemicals. I live in Atlanta and I use a small green company: http://www.pacificpestsolutions.com

However, I really want everyone to be safe, especially if the summers keep getting shorter and mosquito populations keep rising. Take care of yourself and your family. No need to panic, but everyone should do there part to stay safe!!
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dmoongo
Tempus Edax Rerum
08:14 PM on 08/16/2012
Hope the wind is blowing West to East when they spray.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jack Davies
THEY OWN BOTH SIDES!
08:14 PM on 08/16/2012
Color me funny, but those numbers don't seem to justify wiping out entire swaths of wildlife and poisoning ourselves further.

When are people going to learn?
08:42 PM on 08/16/2012
Do the math, 16 deaths out of 381 sounds pretty justified to me.

My son was the second person to have a confirmed case of West Nile in Arlington this summer. The number of those infected since then has increasing exponentially.

I applaud the swift response.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jack Davies
THEY OWN BOTH SIDES!
09:00 PM on 08/16/2012
Right. Let's wipe out entire species and poison our planet for those numbers.

We have are more lethal diseases that we don't go nearly to these lengths for. Did we wipe out all the pigs when we had swine flu going around? Sorry about your son, but did he die?

This response is absurd, period.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jeremyewilliams
Reality is not the GOPs cup of tea!
06:25 AM on 08/17/2012
You seem like an intelligent one. No long term thought at all.
09:50 PM on 08/16/2012
I agree - the toxic chemicals are equally as scary! AOL 'Green' needs to promote Greenbug which offers safe, natural and unbelievably effective mosquito control using cedar oil as the active ingredient. I stumbled upon it online (www.greenbugallnatural.com) and it is the best product I have ever found and my daughter is a mosquito magnet. Cranking out the chemicals isn't the solution - using safe solutions from nature should be the number one choice.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jack Davies
THEY OWN BOTH SIDES!
11:06 PM on 08/16/2012
Nice product placement. o.O
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
08:02 PM on 08/16/2012
So can we send Rick Perry out for a nice long evening sunset stroll? No need to wear any protective clothing, shorts and t-shirt will do.
fd909
Laugh a little!
08:44 PM on 08/16/2012
Don't forget his coyote pistol!
02:29 AM on 08/17/2012
I agree ... this appears to be the only way to accurately gauge how effective this chemical is at controlling dangerous and troublesome pests.