Mosquitoes don’t have to ruin summer

I didn’t bring any insect repellant to Taos, which is pretty stupid, it turns out, because the mosquitoes are really bad this year. And boy, did I get bit, sitting out in the soft warm dusk (mosquitoes like to eat at dusk and dawn), eating great barbeque. NOW I have insect repellant.

It’s about more than having to scratch in hard-to-reach places. West Nile Virus has now shown up in all but two of the lower 48 states. Washington, one of the few holdouts in the WNV column, still has no reported cases.

I’m not all that likely to get West Nile fever, even if one of the mosquitoes that bit me was carrying the virus. Only 10 to 20 percent of those who actually get the virus in their blood stream will end up with the illness. And for the majority of those, it will be a mild, flu-like illness. You know — chills, fever, headaches, muscle aches, and maybe a swollen lymph node or two.

Only the rare person will get seriously ill, with West Nile fever turning into encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the tissues lining the brain). Then the symptoms might include a severe headache, stiff neck, confusion and even death. In 2004, the CDC reported more than 2,500 cases of West Nile Fever, and 98 deaths. But this was down from 2003 when there were 9,800 reported cases and 250 deaths.

Common birds carry WNV, like crows and jays. It is the birds’ migration that has caused the spread of the disease, which probably originally hitched a ride from Africa in an infected bird imported to the U.S. We don’t get the virus from the birds, though. Like many diseases, this one requires what we call an “insect vector” to pass the virus along, in this case the ubiquitous mosquito. The mosquito bites the infected bird, gets the virus in its blood, then bites an unsuspecting human, passing along a few viruses in the process.

As is so often true, it is much easier to prevent getting the disease in the first place. Prevention takes two forms: Keep the bugs from biting and reduce the number of bugs around to bite. Now, no one is advocating blasting the bugs with DDT, but there’s lots we can do around our homes to reduce the mosquito population. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, and we’ve had a wet spring. There are plenty of places where water can lurk: the trays that outside flower pots stand in, our rain gutters, even bird baths and garbage cans. So go on a search and destroy mission, cleaning out the gutters and throwing out the water. Drill drain holes in garbage cans and change the bird bath water every week.

But let’s face it, we’re never going to get rid of those little beasts and they will come gunning for us. If it’s not stiflingly hot, long pants and long sleeves, along with a hat, will help. But sooner or later, we’ll probably be reaching for the insect repellant. Mosquitoes know how to find juicy humans by honing in on their scent. Insect repellants change how we smell. DEET-containing products are the ones we know, and DEET has been shown in studies to be safe, if we don’t eat it. Keep it off of children’s hands and don’t use it on infants 2 months or younger — put netting over their stroller instead.

For those of us who don’t like the idea of applying something called N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide (that’s DEET) to our skin, the CDC has recently approved two other insect repellants for keeping the mosquitoes (and the ticks, by the way). One of them is oil of lemon eucalyptus for those of us who prefer a botanical to put on our skin.

Whatever insect repellant you use, spray it on your clothes as well, especially if they are tight fitting. Now that we’ve finally got a summer, go out and enjoy it!