West Nile Virus

[popper]

My son was diagnosed with W. Nile Virus last week (Dallas). Says he's doing OK but has to go to Venice for a business/fishing trip this weekend. I mention this as a friend was the 1st case in Ne, then got leukemia. He beat that (took about 10 years), then got another cancer a few years later and passed 3 yrs ago. A church member here got WNV and now has leukemia. There are a few ongoing studies about the link, but not much data available. So, be warned - USE REPELLANT when outside. May sound like crying wolf, BUT.

[Charley]

I can understand the concern, but at this point I've seen no real data that would even begin to support a link between West Nile Virus and any cancer. For that matter, there are some circumstantial links between overuse of DEET based insect repellents and some cancers.

Sometimes I do belive that God rolls dice when determining fate and the future.

[Tom-ADC]

Okay don't laugh but when we visited of daughter in May she lives way out in the country in Mississippi, we went to the Sea Bee base there and when I asked for insert repellent the lady told me with the troops went to Camp Shelby (lots of bugs) they use Victoria Secret "Amber Romance" spray worked better then anything else they tried. Wife and I bought a bottle and tried it, all I can say worked super (no bites) and we smelled great, left the bottle with Karen and she now swears by it.

[waksupi]

Avon Skin So Soft has been used around here for years, and the livestock places have Coat So Soft, same stuff to use on horses, but lots cheaper.

[41 mag fan]

Okay don't laugh but when we visited of daughter in May she lives way out in the country in Mississippi, we went to the Sea Bee base there and when I asked for insert repellent the lady told me with the troops went to Camp Shelby (lots of bugs) they use Victoria Secret "Amber Romance" spray worked better then anything else they tried. Wife and I bought a bottle and tried it, all I can say worked super (no bites) and we smelled great, left the bottle with Karen and she now swears by it.


throws that out for me if I have to buy Victoria Secret Amber Romance stuff.

Wife would think i'm trying to be romantic, that'd blow my cover of being an *******, like I try to be!!

[popper]

Bounce dryer sheets are supposed to work also. Evidently there is interest in the possibility as some studies of WNV and mouse leukemia have been published. They both are viral diseases. Like I could get caught with anything from VS. Might as well get WNV as maliciously being beat about the head and shoulders.

[9.3X62AL]

Huh! I'd never heard these accounts, so had Marie read the thread. She was aware of the Avon Skin So Soft as bug repellant, so I guess I need to climb out from under my rock more often.

[Wayne Smith]

West Nile is quite rampant around here. All of SE Virginia is testing with high rates in the mosquitoes. Not good for horses, either.

[jmsj]

Popper,
I hope your son has a full recovery.
We even have the West Nile Virus out here in N.E. New Mexico. When it first hit we watched crows and magpies that got it stumble around like they were drunk for a day or two then die. A few horses contracted it and died.
The company that I worked for voluntered (me and a co-worker) to set out collection traps and send in the catch into the state for testing. We did this for a couple of years then the collecting was called off when the guy running the program for the state died from complications from contracting the West Nile Virus.
Good luck, jmsj

[Blacksmith]

There is a vaccine for West Nile for horses but not people. So protect your horse.

[popper]

died from complications from contracting the West Nile Virus Generally is really hard on those with poor immune systems, he's been told to just take aspirin. Evidently there are several strains of it. Just takes one of those little buggers! Knowing 2 individuals having the WNV and leukemia says to me we don't know all we want to know about it. Yes, it's spread all around the country, we here as more outdoorsy folk have increased risk..

[leadman]

They are spraying parts of the Phoenix and ajoining areas because of WNV.
The mosquitos here are different than the ones back in Michigan. Smaller and sneaker, can't even feel them bite!

Hope your son does what the doc says and gets over it or at least keeps it under control.

[Plate plinker]

Treat your horses if WNV is new to your area. We lost many, many horses here in n Indiana the first few years. Now they seem to have a natural immunity to it. So I. Told.

[mongo]

I tried those little motorized mosquito repellant things that you hang on your belt, that are made by OFF, You put the little treated screen in the thing, put in the batteries and a little fan blows air threw the screen dispencing the repellant. Worked great. I bass fish in a swampy area where the mosquitos are vicious, Put that little thing on my belt and NO bites. Best part is you dont have to spray yourself with anything.

[popper]

Update, he only has headaches now, got most of his energy back now, 2 mo. later. I couldn't keep up with him anyway, work, 2 young boys, fixing a house to sell and moving to another. Dallas county has decided to do aerial spraying it is so rampant.

[Tom-ADC]

popper, that's good news, also good to see the county is trying to get it under control, nasty stuff for sure.

[popper]

Declared an emergency and started aerial spraying here last nite.

[texassako]

I am not sure how much good all the spraying around here is going to do for the situation except as a short term solution. It is kind of like when Lyme disease was in the press a lot, people need to be made aware of it to take precautions and docs need to know the symptoms to make the proper diagnosis since it is here to stay.

[375RUGER]

I got WNV just this past week. I knew something was wrong, glad I caught it early. I remember being around some mosquitos but don't remember getting bit. I'm NW of Albuquerque.

I hope the spraying works. Spraying/fogging played a major role in how the mosquito that carried malaria was eliminated from most of the US.

[Four-Sixty]

And... In Macon, Georgia we are seeing encephalitis spread by mosquitoes. My mother works at the emergency room where they are seeing "an alarming trend".

[popper]

texassako - I didn't think much about protection until he came down with it, before all the press hoopla. That's was the main reason for my post. All the dry weather last year and now it's wet. Their eggs survive up to 10 yrs (well a long time) without moisture!. When the weather and water is correct they are like crab grass. They used to use light oil on ponds to suffocate the larvae, which use a breathing tube. Stuff they are spraying now is a toxin. We'll see how it works. 375ruger - hope you feel better soon. What treatment was prescribed for you?

[Charley]

Everything is toxic. Duet is applied at a rate of 1.24 oz/acre, pretty low dose. Pyrethroids have a very low mammalian toxicty factor as well. Night application will reduce the death rate of beneficial insects, such as bees/wasps, etc. I don't have any idea what the cost/benefit equation will work out to. Aerial application of something like this won't be cheap, that's for sure. 10 deaths from WNV sounds like a lot, but compared to DFW's metro population, it's statisticly insignificant...you're more likely to die in a car wreck than from WNV. Sounds cold, but I suspect the city/county are just trying to make people THINK they are doing something about the problem.

[garym1a2]

For horses we have a west nile shot and a rabis/ewt shot. The one i worry the most.about is enceptilis. I saw a horse go down from it about 14 years ago. Enceptillis is almost always fatal