West Nile Virus

West Nile Virus Guidelines to Follow

  1. Avoid outdoor activity when mosquitoes are most active - from dusk until dawn. You also need to protect yourself against day-flying mosquito species.
  2. If outdoors, wear protective clothing and apply mosquito repellents according to label directions - those containing DEET, Picaridin, or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus have been proven to be the most effective.
  3. Ensure door and window screens are secured and in good repair to prevent mosquito entrance into homes.
  4. Eliminate standing and stagnant water. Eggs are laid and immature mosquitoes develop in dirty pools & spas, ponds, bird baths, buckets, barrels, children's toys, etc. Immature mosquitoes become biting adults in 5-7 days.
  5. Free mosquito-eating fish are available to South County residents for permanent water sources (ponds, troughs, large fountains) at the Mosquito and Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County (MVMDSBC).
  6. Horse owners should contact their veterinarian to have their horses vaccinated for West Nile Virus and to keep the vaccinations up to date.
  7. Contact the MVMDSBC immediately at (805) 969-5050 to report mosquito problems on green pools/spas.

 

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  • No confirmed human cases of WNV.
  • 1 dead bird - sparrow tested positive for WNV in Lompoc.
  • No confirmed human cases of WNV.
  • 1 Mosquito pool (collected near Devereux Lagoon) out of 144 pools (collected on UCSB property) was tested positive for WNV.
  • 19 dead birds tested positive for WNV, 10 from Santa Ynez and 5 from the south coast.
  • 2 confirmed horse cases in Santa Ynez Valley, 1 of which was fatal and not vaccinated.
  • 21 mosquito pools were tested positive for WNV. 16 out of 21 positive pools were from the UCSB/SB Airport boundary; 5 others were from Los Carneros Lake
  • 2 human cases
  • 6 horses tested positive for WNV and 3 of them died.
  • 73 dead birds (Crow, Scrub Jay, House Finch & Sparrow, and Magpie) which tested positive for WNV.
  • The second WNV human case - in the city of Santa Barbara - was announced by County Public Health Services on September 27, 2005. The 56-year old male started experiencing flu like symptoms on August 15. Subsequently, he was hospitalized on September 15, and the test results confirmed positive WNV.
  • The first WNV human case - in Santa Barbara County was reported in the Santa Barbara News-Press, August 30, 2005. “It started with a slight fever, fatigue and an upset stomach, but if the 24-year-old Carpinteria man hadn't’t gone in to give blood, nobody may ever have known: He is the first person in the County with a confirmed case of West Nile Virus.”
    In his interview with the News-Press, Dr. Elliot Schulman, health officer and the director of the County’s Public Health Department, said, “80% of the people who contract it have no symptoms at all and won’t even know that they’re infected.”
  • Good news; the Tule pond (about 4-5 acres) located on the Santa Barbara Airport property was treated by aerial mosquito larvicide application on August 26, 2005. This pond had not previously been treated with larvicide, since it has not been accessible to Mosquito and Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County (MVMDSBC). The EH&S Industrial Hygiene Program has been working with (MVMDSBC), and the Airport for sometime to provide access and perform the treatment.
  • Mosquito trapping, by the Mosquito and Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County, and testing, by the California Department of Health Services, are performed to closely monitor the outbreak of WNV in SB County and to perform mosquito abatement in the wetlands.
  • A WNV warning bulletin has been developed by EH&S, and both Facilities Management and Housing and Residential Services have been posting them on the campus grounds and inside the buildings.

 

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