{"id":118549,"date":"2014-08-07T23:55:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T05:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/threat-of-west-nile-virus-returns\/"},"modified":"2014-08-07T23:55:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T05:55:26","slug":"threat-of-west-nile-virus-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/threat-of-west-nile-virus-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Threat of West Nile virus returns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Culex
Culex Tarsalis<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As the area\u2019s monsoon season returns, so does the threat of the West Nile virus. Montezuma County had six reported cases last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the time to be conscious,\u201d said Jason Carruth of the Colorado Mosquito Control. \u201cThis is the height of the mosquito season.\u201d<\/p>\n

No reports of West Nile have been received locally thus far in 2014.<\/p>\n

Manager of the Montezuma Mosquito Control District for 15 years, Carruth warned symptoms normally weren\u2019t seen until four to six weeks after being bitten.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re flu-like symptoms,\u201d he added. \u201cA sore throat, sore muscles, nausea and vomiting. A fever can last for weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although there are 28 species of mosquitoes that call Montezuma County home, the most common threat carrying the West Nile virus is the culex tarsalis.<\/p>\n

The Montezuma Mosquito Control District received $191,000 in property taxes to combat the pests this year. The county\u2019s eight cemetery districts combined received $180,000.<\/p>\n

Mosquito reproduction, which peaks from late July to late August, only requires sunlit standing fresh water. rime real estate for mosquitoes is any standing water, including boats and boat covers, rain barrels, buckets, swimming pools, tires, livestock troughs, flowerpots and ponds.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that the monsoon season is upon us, it is important to be aware of standing water near your home,\u201d said Carruth.<\/p>\n

Carruth believes most cases of West Nile virus are preventable. In addition to ensuring no standing water, he suggested always wearing mosquito repellent with DEET when outdoors during high mosquito activity, early evening to mid morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepellents with higher percent DEET are usually more effective,\u201d said Carruth. \u201cLong shirts and pants will also make it harder for the mosquito to find exposed skin.\u201d<\/p>\n

If unable to remove standing water, such as a pond, Carruth said help was available for those needing assistance. The Colorado Mosquito Control can dispatch a technician to inspect and treat water if necessary, and the agency also fogs when requested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe West Nile virus is here to stay,\u201d said Carruth. \u201cReducing the risk is everyone\u2019s responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more about the Colorado Mosquito Control, call (970) 565-9134.<\/p>\n

tbaker@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taxpayers pay $190K to control mosquitoes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[13,60,290,88],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-118549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-montezuma-county","tag-virus-diseases","tag-weather-news"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118549"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=118549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}