The best defence against West Nile virus is a good offence.
Saskatchewan residents last week were urged to take steps to protect themselves from the virus, which will peak as a threat to humans in August and September.
Provincial officials said municipalities will do mosquito control measures, but that won’t be enough.
“Clearly we can’t kill all mosquitoes in Saskatchewan,” said Eric Young, deputy chief medical health officer and chair of the province’s West Nile working group.
“That’s just absolutely impossible to do. We can’t totally prevent West Nile virus. That would be impossible to do. All we can do is try very hard to reduce the risk.”
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Municipalities have access to $1.2 million in matching funds for public education, staff training, operating mosquito traps and larvicide application.
However, the per capita funding applies only to municipalities with a population of at least 2,000.
Neal Hardy, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said originally municipalities had heard they would not be able to join with urban centres to access the funding.
Phil Curry is an entomologist hired by Saskatchewan Health to co-ordinate the effort against West Nile.
He said RMs are starting to band together, or with towns and villages.
“It’s actually encouraging rural and urban people to work together and band together, as long as they meet this minimum 2,000 size, which isn’t that hard to do, really,” he said.
Young said the way the funding is distributed will be evaluated as the summer progresses, with a view to changing it for next year if necessary.
But he also noted that in some areas, it won’t be practical to apply
larvicide.
Hardy agreed. In the RM of Hudson Bay, for example, there is a lot of muskeg area. Plus, the RM includes 115 townships.
“It would be nearly impossible to control the larvae,” he said.
Although the province does not want to spray adult mosquitoes, Hardy said that would be the only way to control the virus in some areas.
Meanwhile, the health department is urging people to wear repellent and stay inside when mosquitoes are most active.
