West Nile virus in a Kent County mosquito

West Nile virus in a Kent County mosquito

TO KENT COUNTY... RECENTLYDETETCED AFTER THE HEALTHDEPARTMENT TESTED A POOL OFMOSQUITOES IN THE WYOMING AREA.NO CONFIRMED HUMAN CASES INWEST MICHIGAN.

BUT THEDEPARTMENT ISNOW ASKING PEOPLE TO BE CAREFULWHEN OUTDOORS.

OUR HALEIGHVAUGHN JOIS NUSIN THE STUDIO WITH WHAT YOU CANDO-- TO AVOID GETTING BIT.?HALEIGH?WITH THE HEAVY,P ERSISTENT RAINTHE PAST FEW MONTHS -- MOSQUITOSHAVE BEEN THRIVING!I'M SURE MANY OF US CAN FEELTHISIN OUR VERY OWN BACK YARDS.

WITHWEST NILE VIRUS CONFIRMED INKENT COUNTYTHE HEALTH DEPARTMENT IS URGINGPEOPLE TO START PROTECTINGTHEMSELVES.Brendan Earl SupervisingSanitarian, Kent County HealthDepartment 2:24- 3:10 So thenumber one things you can do areone, always wear mosquitorepellent when you're outside,we recommend any mosquitorepellent with DEET.

So between10 and 35%DEET.

And number two, you canremoveany kind of mosquito habitatthat's aroundyour home .So make sure that youarechanging out are dumping outyour birdbaths, the wading pools, flowerpots thathave stagnant water in them.

Andalso makesure that the maintenance aroundyour property is sufficient.

Soyou don'twant standing water in yourgutters.

You know, you want tomake sure that your windowsscreens don't have holes inthem.And then the final thing you dois kind ofmaybe alter a little bit of yourdailybehavioral patterns.

So try tostay indoorsaround dawn and dusk.BELIEVE IT OR NOT- - WEST NILEVIRUS BEGINS WITH INFECTDEBIRDS.THE MOSQUITOS FEED OFF OF THEINFECTED BIRDS, AND THEN THEYSPREAD IT TO HUMANS THROUGHBITES.

MOSQUITOS TEND TOTHRIVE IN LOCATIONS WITHSTAGNANT WATER -- SUCH ASMARSHLANDS,IRRIGATED FIELDS AND MEADOWS,NEAR PONDS, AND IN RAINWATERPULDDES.

ACROSS WEST MICHIGAN,ALLLOCATIONS ARE CURRENTLY ABOVEAVERAGE FOR THE AMOUNT OFRAINFALL SINCE JUNE 1ST.

GRANDRAPIDS -- FOR EXAMPLE -- HASRECEIVED 10.05 INCHES OFPRECIPITATION SINCE JUNE 1ST.THE NORMAL AMOUNT IS ONLY 6.69INCHES.AS YOU CAN SEE HERE.... EVERYLOCATION IS ABOVE AVERAGE..FULLSCREEN 2 YOU CAN SEE THISSIMPLY WITH OU RDROUGHT MONITOR.

WHILE MOST OFWEST MICHIGAN WAS UNDER AMODERATE TO SEVEREDROUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF JUNE... FULLSCREEN 3THE GROUND IS NOW VERY SATURATED... LIFTING ALL DROUGHTPARAMETERS FOR MOST OF THEREGION.LIVE IN THE STUDIO, HALEIGHVAUGHNFOX 17 NEW.SSTILL TO COME HERE AT SIX...