MOSQUITO CONTROL PROGRAMS UNDER WAY

Mosquito control is under way in Cape Girardeau.

City workers have been spraying the insects since early June. They attempt to spray the city twice each week.

Spraying is done during evening hours when mosquitoes are more active and winds typically have died down. The spraying usually takes about four hours, said Steve Cook of the city's Public Works Department.

The city is broken down into two sections for the spraying.

"We try to do the entire city once a week," said Cook. "Mosquitoes have been plentiful in Cape Girardeau, but we haven't had many complaints yet."

Meanwhile, the Southern Seven Health Department, headquartered at Ullin will launch its annual surveillance and control program against the Asian tiger mosquitoes soon.

"The mosquito season is just getting started," said Willie Jackson, with the environmental division of Southern Seven Health. "We'll be out in full force soon."

The South Seven Health Department is one of 20 agencies in the state to receive grants for the fight against mosquitoes.

The grants are awarded from the Illinois Department of Public Health, and comes from a share of the state's Used Tire Management Fund. Money for this fund is generated by a $1 fee per new tire.

Southern Seven received the second largest grant in the state: $25,265. Only the Chicago Department of Public Health received more at an amount of $42,000. A total of $213,214 was issued to the 20 health departments for mosquito control.

The grants are used for surveillance and control efforts, which include sites where tires have been stored or discarded; sampling mosquitoes found in tires for the presence of viruses; cleanup of non-commercial tire sites, and if necessary, initiating legal action to force cleanups.

"After cleanups, we continue to monitor the area," said Jackson.

The Southern Seven group will look into a couple of areas this summer where large amounts of tires have been reported.

The Asian tiger mosquito has been identified in a number of Illinois counties this year -- including Alexander Pulaski, Massac, Union, Williamson and Jackson. The Asian tiger mosquito has also been reported in the north.

The Asian tiger mosquito has shown up in traps in the Cape Girardeau region since 1994.

"The Asian tiger mosquito is a persistent and aggressive daytime-biting mosquito, said P. J. Burlte-McCredie, of the Illinois Health Department. The mosquito breeds in containers that hold water, such as tires, cans and yard ornaments.

The Asian tiger mosquito came to the United States in the mid-1980s on used tires imported to Texas from Asia. Since then, they've become a big pest throughout the nation.

The Asian tiger mosquito has been found to carry viruses that can be transmitted to humans, said Dr. John R. Lumpkin, Illinois public health director. However, there are no documented cases of the Asian tiger mosquito spreading diseases to a human in the United States.

Other container-breeding mosquitoes, such as the tree-hole and northern house mosquito, however, have been known to transmit diseases to humans. California encephalitis is spread by the tree-hole mosquito and St. Louis encephalitis is transmitted by the northern house mosquito.

California and St. Louis encephalitis are serious diseases that can affect the brain. There were four confirmed cases of California encephalitis in Illinois last year, but no cases of St. Louis encephalitis.

The tree-hole mosquito is infected with California encephalitis virus by feeding on infected small mammals or when an infected female mosquito transmits the virus to her offspring. The house mosquito is infected with St. Louis encephalitis by feeding on birds that carry the virus.

Symptoms of the encephalitis disease usually start five to 15 days following a bite by an infected mosquito. The symptoms range from a slight fever or headache to a rapid onset of severe headaches, high fever, and muscle aches, and stiffness in the back of the neck.