Health department announces West Nile virus monitoring program

[May 19, 2011]  With warm weather upon us, mosquitoes will become active, thus increasing the threat of mosquito-related diseases such as West Nile virus. The Logan County Department of Public Health reminds everyone to take precautions to eliminate breeding areas around your home and to avoid mosquito bites.

Precautions to prevent mosquitoes include the following:

• Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active, especially between dusk and dawn. Use prevention methods whenever mosquitoes are present.

• When outdoors, wear shoes and socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. It's preferable to wear light-colored clothing. Apply insect repellent that includes DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus, and use it according to label instructions. Contact a physician before using repellents on infants.

• Make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that might have tears or other openings. Try to keep doors and windows shut, especially at night.

• Eliminate all sources of standing water that can support mosquito breeding, including water in birdbaths, ponds, flowerpots, wading pools, old tires and other receptacles. Contact your local municipal government or the Logan County Department of Public Health to report areas of stagnant water in roadside ditches, flooded yards and similar locations that may produce mosquitoes.

The health department will start monitoring for mosquito activity on Monday and continue through Oct. 15. Monitoring includes the collection and submittal of dead birds to an Illinois state laboratory for West Nile virus testing.

The Logan County Department of Public Health would appreciate your help. If you observe a dead or dying bird, please contact the department to see if the bird is eligible for testing. Eligible birds must meet various conditions and can include crows, blue jays, robins and other perching birds that appear to have died of natural causes within the previous 24 hours. Birds showing signs of decomposition are not eligible.

For further information, you can contact the Logan County Department of Public Health at 217-735-2317.

[Text from file received from the Logan County Department of Public Health]