West Nile mosquito on most wanted list
More effective means are needed immediately to control the West Nile virus outbreak and the people who panic about it.
COMMENTARY
Colleen Casey

There have been 673 people in the U.S. test positive for West Nile virus and 32 of them have died. The virus arrived in New York in 1999; it has spread west and I think we’re freaking out.

Although mosquito bites were the cause of most of these cases, now four people may have acquired it through organ transplants they received last month from an infected donor.

An American Red Cross spokeswoman said there isn’t a way to screen blood for the virus, but she said the blood supply is safer than ever and that anyone showing symptoms of the virus would be turned away.

So the one percent of people infected who show flu-like symptoms, won’t be allowed to donate blood. What a relief. For a minute there, I thought we were going to let this so-called epidemic get out of hand.

Let’s not let this virus scare us or make us believe we should all listen to the ridiculous precautions we’re told about.

We all know if we see a dead bird on the street that he probably has the virus, but some of us are still confused as to how to know if we have it.

My mom came to visit me two weeks ago. When she goes back home to Chicago, she calls to tell me she’s sick and hopes it’s not West Nile from all our mosquitoes down here.

Mom, once again, don’t worry. It takes 15 days after the infection occurs to show symptoms. Listen to me, I read the newspaper and watch the evening news. Nowadays, that makes me a West Nile virus expert.

With all the talk, I can’t help but wonder if the FBI has demoted Osama bin Laden on the most wanted list and replaced it with a blood-sucking mosquito.

Biologists are even creating weapons, like the recently produced water treatment, which will kill mosquito larvae with the use of yeast granules and hormones.

Since this seems like a pretty efficient way to control their reproduction, let’s put bin Laden back on the top of the most wanted list.

But at least controlling the mosquito population sounds like a better plan than staying indoors at night and wearing long sleeved clothing out in the Texas heat.

As a day camp counselor last month, I stood in amazement as mothers would douse their six and seven-year-olds with insect repellent, hand me an extra bottle for me to spray on their kid after swim-time, and leave feeling that they’ve safely protected their child.

Did I miss something? Since when is it kosher to slather young children with excessive amounts of poison?

For my campers’ moms, the seemingly great West Nile threat is greater than the “skin” insecticide, DEET, proven dangerous in excessive amounts or high concentration.

But, the craziest it got was back in July when one camper said he couldn't eat his favorite peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch because his mom saw on the news that bananas increase mosquitoes’ attraction to humans.

Since hearing that, I have been on a mission not to let the skeeters control my life.

Although I took the precautions, like emptying the standing water from our tire swing, I wasn’t going to let the so-called threat keep us from catching frogs and minnows in the nearby, albeit stagnant creek. I don't even recall seeing a mosquito, let alone being eaten alive by some.

We didn’t freak out and we didn’t let the mosquitoes rob us of our precious summer afternoons at camp. And just for the record, I don’t think any of us have come down with flu-like symptoms.

News Editor Colleen Casey is a junior news-editorial major from Skokie, Ill.