As participants in a provincial campaign to monitor West Nile virus, the Northwestern Health Unit has begun trying to collect mosquito samples this week.
But while the health unit is responsible for both the Kenora and Rainy River districts, only the City of Kenora will be the site for the sampling this summer, public health inspector Al Mathers said yesterday from the office there.
“Because of the size of the sample containers and the cost of shipping them from two or three locations is expensive, and not really practical, we’ll only be doing Kenora this time around,” he remarked.
“Then, if we end up having a lot of [dead bird] specimens turned in by the end of the summer, we’ll consider doing it in Dryden or Fort Frances or somewhere else next year,” he added.
Mathers noted the fact that one of the three dead crows which tested positive for West Nile last year was found in Kenora also made it a good candidate for mosquito trapping.
The other crows were discovered in Dryden and Sioux Lookout.
The health unit has received five mosquito traps, which are comprised of a cylinder cooler, dry ice, a black light, fan, netting, and a small plastic bucket in which to collect the specimens.
The bugs are attracted by the carbon dioxide from the dry ice and black light. When they get close enough, they’re sucked into the netting by the fan.
These then are sent in small cups to Brock University in St. Catharines for testing.
The local health unit has enlisted residents to put out the traps once a week—for a 10-week period—between Kenora’s downtown and Jaffray-Melick.
“There’s lots of conditions to consider—don’t put out the traps in high winds, don’t do it when the temperature is too cold,” noted Mathers.
“[The Ministry of Health and Long-term Care] also doesn’t want us to go to rural areas, they’re more concerned with the urban,” he added.
This is because the main virus-carrying mosquito species, the Culex (or common house mosquito), breeds in very shallow water and has a short range. It’s therefore most commonly found in urban areas.
Mathers noted it’s difficult to predict at this point the success of the 10-week project, during which the health unit is expected to, if at all possible, send in at least two mosquitos per week.
“Ten weeks takes us into October and given the way the mosquito season has been, I don’t know if we’ll be able to get the full 10 weeks’ worth,” he chuckled.
“But I’m not complaining.”
While the Northwestern Health Unit continues to send away dead crows and ravens for testing, evidence of the West Nile virus has yet to show up here so far this mosquito season.
The health unit’s bird surveillance program—first established last year—has been in effect since May. Since then, about 50 birds have been sent away for testing, including 12 from the Fort Frances branch of the health unit, local public health inspector Dave Coats noted yesterday.
The health unit currently is accepting crows and ravens.
All the health units in Ontario are sending them to the same lab [the Department of Pathobiology, Veterinary Clinical Studies, at the University of Guelph], so they have to limit the types of birds they’ll accept to the two types, even though jays also are part of that bird family.
To report a suspiciously dead crow or raven, contact Coats or Brian Norris at the health unit here during normal office hours, or call the after-hours number (1-807-468-7109) with the following information:
•your name, address, and phone number;
•location of the bird, including the town or municipality and street address (if it is a rural property, please provide as accurate a location description as possible);
•the date the bird was first noticed;
•description of the bird (note the size, and colour of the feathers, eyes, and beak);
•if you are aware the bird showed any signs of unusual behaviour before it died;
•physical condition of the bird (if there are any signs of trauma or insect activity); and
•the cause of death, if known.
The bird may be suitable for testing:
•if it has recently died;
•if there are no maggots on it; and
•even if it has signs of injury or trauma.
If the bird is suitable, the health unit will pick it up and send it away for testing.
If you are told by the health unit that the bird is not suitable for testing, bury it under at least two feet of earth or place it in two leak-proof bags and discard it in the garbage.
As well as crows, two horses—one in Rainy River and the other in Devlin—were confirmed positive for the West Nile virus last September and October, respectively, while a third horse from Littlefork, Mn. died due to it in August.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
