Seal Beach: West Nile virus threat high this year

By Charles M. Kelly

Seal Beach Councilman Michael Levitt warned the public that the threat of West Nile virus is high this year.
“There are more dead birds in Orange County that have died of West Nile virus (this year) than since 2004,” Levitt said.
The Seal Beach District 5 representative spoke during the council comments segment of the City Council’s Tuesday, May 27 meeting.
Levitt represents Seal Beach on the board of directors of the Orange County Vector Control District. Vector Control is the agency charged with containing disease carrying-creatures.
West Nile virus is a potentially fatal disease. So far this year, there have been no confirmed human cases, according to information posted on the Vector Control District’s Web site.
Thirteen birds collected in Orange County tested positive for West Nile virus last month, according to a Vector Control statement issued Tuesday, May 20.
The Vector Control announced that nine American crows, two house finches, a hermit thrush and a black-headed grosbeak, all collected between May first and the ninth, were found to be positive for WNV.
Two separate laboratories tested the dead birds.
“Thirteen birds in such a short time frame is reminiscent of 2004 conditions,” said Robert Cummings, scientific and technical director for Vector Control.
“The high number of positive birds, the variety of species, and the wide distribution is a strong reminder that WNV is present and being actively transmitted throughout Orange County,” Cummings said.
In a memo to the Vector Control board for the week ending May 30, District Manager Gerard Goedhart stated, “As expected, the calls to the district on dead birds have increased significantly over the past week. For example, over the last six days there were 110 calls for dead bird pickup. The district has hired one additional part-time employee in the lab to handle the increase.”
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of birds dying from West Nile virus in Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Los Alamitos or Sunset Beach.
The birds were reported by residents from San Clemente to Brea and from Huntington Beach to Fullerton. In all, nine West Nile-positive birds have been collected in the city of Garden Grove since 2008 began. Four birds were collected in one Garden Grove neighborhood alone.
Vector Control is asking the public to report any dead birds they may come across by calling (714) 971-2421, extension 117.
The district is advising people to eliminate standing water wherever they find it. Apparently, mosquitoes can develop in a week in as little as a quarter inch of water.
For more information, visit the district Web site at www.ocvcd.org.