The first indication of West Nile virus in Santa Cruz County was confirmed in two dead birds tested by the State Department of Health Services on August 28, 2006. One was an American Goldfinch picked up by a resident in Aptos on August 17 and the second a Stellar's Jay picked up by a resident in Scotts Valley on August 16.

As virus activity has been found throughout the State (with Santa Clara being a major hotspot) we have been expecting a detection and can assume that there are some levels of virus in infected birds and vector species of mosquitoes countywide.

The Mosquito and Vector Control program is conducting inspections and trap surveillance not only in the areas where the birds were found but countywide, and are preparing for possible human and equine cases, though the risk of illness from any one mosquito bite is extremely small.

Residents should talk with their neighbors, reduce standing water on their properties and report neighborhood sources and biting mosquito activity, repair screens, report dead birds or tree squirrels and wear repellants, preferrably DEET-based, at dawn and dusk when they are in areas of mosquito activity.

Call Mosquito and Vector Control for more information or to obtain mosquito-eating fish for ponds and refer to the following links for more information:

http://www.santacruzhealth.org/fightthebite/index.htm
http://www.santacruzhealth.org/phealth/cd/West%20Nile/4westnile.htm
http://www.westnile.ca.gov/