As the weather warms up, the threat of West Nile may increase this summer, causing residents to take precautions. Besides protecting themselves, residents should also protect their yards from becoming mosquito breeding grounds, especially if they plan to leave their place unattended.
Last year Louisiana witnessed 329 West Nile cases found through lab testing and 25 deaths because of encephalitis, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Two people are being tested for West Nile and St. Louis Encephalitis, according to the Department of Health and Hospitals information.
The University is preventing mosquito breeding by covering standing water, removing mosquito infestations and trimming bushes, said Fred Fellner, Landscape Services assistant director.
“We have pretty much eliminated any standing water,” Fellner said.
Facility Services workers did a massive clean-up earlier this year and keep up by answering calls to fix specific areas. The current drought cycle has kept the problem minimal, Fellner said.
Facility Services had the city parish spray all the athletic complexes around campus. Fellner said a licensed worker will spray restricted pesticide around campus after recommendation by the Department of Forestry and Agriculture.
East Baton Rouge Parish Mosquito Control sends spray trucks nightly to campus and will soon begin using airplane sprayers, said spokesperson Guy Faget.
      At this point, experts are divided on predicting West Nile’s severity this year. Equal numbers of qualified experts say the virus will attack worse this year than last year as those who say it will be less severe, Faget said.
EBRP Mosquito Control will continue to daily send out trucks and spray as long as West Nile is a threat and the weather permits, Faget said.
Although the human cases have not been confirmed, the virus has shown up in birds and mosquitos this year, indicating the virus is still alive.
Several University employees are studying West Nile, encephalitis and mosquitos.
Alma Roy, associate director of the University’s veterinary medicine diagnostic lab, searches for West Nile cases through a surveillance program.
She found more cases of West Nile in animals and earlier in the season this year than she did before, but she also has searched harder this year than before.
Students and faculty have taken precautions to prevent mosquito breeding and the spread of West Nile.
Roy Shroyer, Office of Telecommunications employee, said he wears insect repellant, avoids going outdoors at dawn and dusk and tries to keep his yard clean. He has trimmed the shrubs around his home, eliminated standing water and tries to keep potential water retainers out of the yard.
Although he considers the area surrounding campus to have minimal mosquito populations, he said the University has done a good job controlling insects.
Students who will be leaving their apartments or homes during the summer can prevent their residences from becoming mosquito breeding grounds by making sure anything that can hold water is removed or turned over, closing windows and making sure screens do not have holes, Faget said.
During vacations people should not leave out pet water dishes unless the dishes are cleaned out daily, he said.
Mosquito breeding can also be reduced by removing standing water, filling in areas that are prone to retaining water with dirt, replacing outdoor lights with yellow “bug” lights and replacing torn window screens, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site.
Standing water that cannot be drained and that animals cannot directly access can be treated with a few drops of dish detergent to reduce surface tension and prevent mosquito breeding, according the Prince Edward Island of Canada’s official government Web site.
Mosquitos are attracted to natural human scents, including sweat, according to Ulrich Bernier, USDA Agricultural Research Service chemist.
Other ways to repel mosquitos are to wear light-colored clothing, hats, long sleeves, pants, and spray a small amount of repellant on cuffs and collars to keep bugs from going under clothing.