West Nile Virus Outbreak Blamed On Slow Housing Market
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Those empty homes that are a result of foreclosures or slow sales may be more of a problem than just an unmowed lawn. Reports coming out of California that an increase in West Nile Virus incidents may be due to the failure of pools being maintained.
When a home is foreclosed upon, draining and preparing the pool is at the bottom of the concerns by the person moving out. So while the lawn may be driving you crazy as you drive by, it is the pool in the back that is a breeding ground for mosquito’s that should be your concern. It is bad enough when there just are too many mosquito’s out there, but the risk of West Nile Virus is just too great these days to let these pools be left unattended.
People don’t drain them, they just leave them and that leaves us with a dirty job,” said Kern Mosquito and Vector Control foreman Donna Quary. It’s pools of stagnant water that serve as prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes. We found one pool that had hundreds of mosquito larvae that will mature within a week and potentially bite you.
“If we knew where every single pool was it would help eliminate a lot of sources,” said Paul Coburn, with Kern Mosquito and Vector Control. “This could have been putting off mosquitos for three months and we have no clue.” Vector control focuses much of it’s efforts on catching babies. They say catching them at that stage is much easier than catching them as adults. via KBFX Fox 58



Comment by Marla on 26 July 2007:
WEST NILE VIRUS IN FRESNO, CA
Beyond the stagnant pool water aka: smokescreen for the cause of West Nile virus in Fresno, CA is the issue of the illegal and unauthorized water/sewer line alterations without permits or inspections. Sewer manhole relocation. The first clue would be TESTING OF THE SOIL to verify toxic, contaminated soil. For more information, see my page regarding a MASS COVER UP!
http://www.myspace.com/marlalk or http://blog.myspace.com/marlalk
Comment by Bruce Richmond on 14 September 2007:
It’s not just foreclosures that we need to pay attention to. Since I started paying attention to the issue of standing water, I’ve noticed the problem in the yards of elderly neighbors and renters. Stay aware of all the neglected homes in your area. There have been reports of West Nile Virus infecting humans in almost every state this year.
Pingback by Value and Comfort » Blog Archive » Green Swimming Pools not Friendly to Environment or Us on 14 September 2007:
[...] reports relate an increase in West Nile Virus outbreaks to the sharp increase in forclosures. Realtors have been notified to report “green” swimming pools to local mosquito and [...]