KANNAPOLIS — Cabarrus County health officials have broadened testing and prevention efforts after confirming the state’s first instance of West Nile Virus in a dead bird last week.
Fred Pilkington, executive director of the Cabarrus Health Alliance, said Monday his agency will now take any dead bird for testing, not just the blue jays, crows and hawks most likely to carry the mosquito-borne illness.
The Health Alliance also has started treating pools of stagnant water throughout the county with a mosquito larvicide, trying to kill the insects before they are born, Pilkington said at a meeting of the Kannapolis City Council.
The health director requested Kannapolis’ support for a countywide plan to combat the virus through public education and mosquito control. It was only the second time Pilkington has appeared before the council.
“That tells you a little bit about the gravity of the situation,” he said.
The council approved $12,249 for the Health Alliance program — the city’s share, based on population, of a $43,000 budget. Cabarrus County and Concord have approved $10,671 and $18,578, respectively, for the plan.
The Health Alliance board of directors already has approved funding the program, and Pilkington said it would be carried out regardless of whether the government bodies supported it.
But city leaders say it’s in the best interests of citizens to spend tax dollars on preventing the spread of the potentially-lethal virus.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt in anybody’s mind this could be a major problem for us,” Councilman Phil Meacham said. “It’s time we took action of some kind.”
The West Nile Virus is spread through the bite of mosquitoes. The insects feed on infected birds, then transmit the virus to humans when biting for blood.
Chances that humans might contract the illness are slight, health officials say. And Pilkington said the Health Alliance, using a Centers for Disease Control system, puts the risk level for Cabarrus residents “very low.”
But the risk does exist, especially for the elderly, whose immune systems have weakened with age. The death of an elderly Atlanta woman is the only fatality so far attributed to the virus this year.
Most people bitten by infected mosquitoes don’t get sick at all, health officials say. Others may experience flu-like symptoms: headaches, swollen glands and fever. Some develop a rash.
In rare cases the virus can lead to encephalitis, a potentially-deadly swelling of the brain, health experts say.
Officials blame the illness for at least 10 deaths since its appearance in the U.S. in 1999. Since then, it has spread from New York south along the eastern seaboard, first appearing in North Carolina last year in a dead bird found in Chatham County.
Pilkington expects more positive test results.
“The West Nile Virus is here to stay,”he said. “Undoubtedly, it’s going to get worse.”
To report dead birds or areas of standing water, call the Cabarrus Health Alliance at 704-920-1000.
Contact Scott Jenkins at 704-797-4248 or sjenkins@salisburypost.com
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