Spraying starts in effort to deter West Nile virus
By James Wynn
Staff Writer

After finding a sufficient number of mosquitoes in its traps, the City of Lander has begun spraying for the insect.
According to a report released by Sollie Cadman of the city’s Weed and Pest Department, Lander crews began spraying for the bugs on June 26. So far, the areas they primarily have focused on have been Jefferson and McDougal streets, Harmony Hill, Fremont Street, North and South First streets, Buena Vista Drive, the Capital Hill area, Tweed Lane and Poor Farm Road, among others.
According to city officials, spraying will continue only on Thursdays until there is a local detected case of West Nile virus.
Though that has not happened yet, some county officials believe it is inevitable.
“We have not had any West Nile virus confirmed yet,” Fremont County Public Health nurse Marty Stensaas said. “But the virus is present again, and it really is just a matter of time.”
Last year, the final count of confirmed cases of West Nile virus in the state was 184, with Fremont County taking the lion’s share with 117 confirmed cases.
Once there is a confirmed case of West Nile virus in Lander, or if there is a significant increase of mosquitoes, city workers will begin spraying the south side of town on Wednesday and the north side on Thursday.
At that point, the city also will no longer honor “no spray” requests.
“When the nights start getting above 50 degrees, which we have seen in the last few days, we begin to see an increase in the number of mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus,” Stensaas said.
Most humans exposed to West Nile virus remain asymptomatic, but some will develop minor symptoms, including a body rash, headaches, pain in the eyes and body aches, among other things. Some people, however, will experience neurological symptoms as the virus attacks the nervous system. In extreme cases the disease can cause encephalitis or meningitis, potentially resulting in the afflicted’s death.
“People do need to begin wearing proper clothing and repellent that will protect from mosquitoes,” Stensaas said. “This is just not something that is going to go away.”
In addition to the spraying, the city has been treating standing water pools and larvae breeding areas since April 14. The measures include using bio-controls such as killifish, which eat the larvae, and agnique, which is a monomolecular surface film that mechanically smothers the larvae.
A test of mosquito pools by city workers has returned negative for West Nile.
But mosquitoes are not the only concern that Landerites face when outdoors. Because of recent heavy moisture in the area, ticks are expected to be another parasite found in heavy numbers, particularly in Lander’s mountain regions.
“Ticks are going to be just as thick this year,” Stensaas said. “Ticks can carry a few different kind of diseases.
“Plus, plague has been confirmed in Laramie County, so people and their pets need to take the proper precautions,” she said, referring to the handful of cases of plague discovered in wild and domestic animals. “We have to learn that these things are here and learn to be compatible with them. We should know by now that nature is not going to adapt to us, so we’re the ones who are going to have to do the adaptations.”