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Sacramento and Yolo counties have received an extra $100,000 to help combat the West Nile virus, after the state rushed payments this week to local agencies amid triple-digit temperatures and a mounting number of cases of the mosquito-borne disease.
The new funds came from $12 million that previously was slated to be cut in half by a legislative budget panel but was restored as part of the final budget agreement between lawmakers and the governor.
OAS_AD('Button20'); Two human infections of the virus had been reported by late Tuesday in Sacramento County. Thirty-one human cases, including two deaths, have been reported statewide.
Sacramento region officials said the money will help efforts to kill adult mosquitoes, but that more funds likely will be needed later in the summer.
"We are starting to see some hot spots in Sacramento and Yolo county, and we are going to use those funds to address those," said David Brown, general manager of the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration announced Wednesday that it had doled out $9 million to 75 agencies across the state. An additional $3 million will be available starting Aug. 1 for agencies experiencing heavy West Nile activity.
Early last month, a joint legislative budget committee recommended that the funds be cut by $7 million to help address the state's multibillion-dollar budget shortfall. But the full Legislature ultimately agreed to restore the funds after mosquito-control and agriculture agencies warned that the West Nile virus could become an escalating problem in the state this summer.
Michelle Mussuto, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services, said restoring the funding is key to helping agencies identify mosquito breeding grounds, particularly in the northern part of the state.
"We knew that we were going to be seeing a lot more activity in Northern California, and the key to controlling the West Nile virus is to get rid of the mosquitoes," she said.
Local mosquito-control experts were part of the intense lobbying campaign to restore the funds, and they now say the money probably won't even be enough.
"It's July, and we've already seen just in Sacramento that we have evidence of West Nile virus districtwide," Brown said. "We've already started to tap into our reserves."
Brown said the local district also has launched a public awareness effort to remind residents about how to help slow the spread of the virus.
The vector control agency and the California Conservation Corps will distribute door hangers, fliers and other educational materials about the virus and mosquitoes.
He said residents should clear their property of standing water and take proper care of swimming pools to prevent mosquito breeding.
They also should use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus when they are outside, particularly at dusk and dawn.
About the writer: The Bee's Alexa H. Bluth can be reached at (916) 326-5542 or abluth@sacbee.com. - Get the whole story every day - SUBSCRIBE NOW! To see more of the Sacramento Bee, or to subscribe, go to http://www.sacbee.com Copyright 2004 Sacramento Bee. All Rights Reserved.
