“While reports of skin irritation and insect bites among students
at Sea Crest School in Half Moon Bay were a cause for concern
among administrators and parents, public health officials say the
outbreak appears to have died down.”
“West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes found in East Palo Alto have
prompted vector-control officials to order spraying in
neighborhoods near the baylands, officials announced Thursday.”
“A truck from the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control
District will be driving around southeast neighborhoods in East
Palo Alto tonight (Aug. 12) and early tomorrow morning, spraying
chemicals to kill mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus.”
“Officials at San Mateo Mosquito and Vector Control District
(SMCMVCD) remind residents that winter is the season for the
western black-legged tick (Ixodes pacificus), also known
as the deer tick. This tick is the primary vector for Lyme
disease and other common tick-borne illnesses.”
“The mosquito district was recently praised in a San Mateo County
Civil Grand Jury report that investigated local special
districts’ transparency practices. Its accomplishments include
being awarded the District Transparency Certificate of Excellence
and the District Distinction Designation from the California
Special District Leadership Foundation this year.”
“With summer heat, mosquitoes are more annoying than uninvited
guests at barbecues and backyard parties. They not only cause
itchiness but may trigger allergies or even spread diseases. It
is advisable to learn how to choose from mosquito-eliminating
products available rather than jumping to the first high-tech
looking electronic bug-zapping devices.”
“Residents in Half Moon Bay’s Arleta Park neighborhood will be
treated to a visit by local first responders and San Mateo County
Health System staff on Thursday, between 9 a.m. and noon.”
“Entomologists charged with keeping San Mateo County residents
safe are reassuring the public that swarms of what some feared
were mosquitoes, are actually harmless nonbiting midges.”
“As reports of Zika virus spreading in a small cluster in Florida
prompted health officials to issue an unprecedented travel
advisory, experts said there’s little chance of the disease
becoming widespread in most parts of the United States —
including the Bay Area.”
“Public health officials warned the public Friday of the
continued discovery of the deadly hantavirus in deer mice in San
Mateo County, officials with the San Mateo County Mosquito &
Vector Control District said.”
“Evidence of hantavirus infection in deer mice collected during
routine rodent-borne disease surveillance has been found by
officials with the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control
District.”
“Two birds found in separate cities in San Mateo County tested
positive Wednesday for the West Nile virus, San Mateo County
Mosquito and Vector Control District officials said on
Wednesday.”
“This year’s exercise will test the county’s ability to
effectively control mosquitoes. The concept takes on greater
urgency in light of the Zika virus, which is a mosquito-borne
health concern that has been affecting other parts of the world.”
“San Mateo County and Santa Clara County residents have tested
positive for theZika virus, according to the California
Department of Public Health.
The CDPH said the San Mateo County resident infected got it while
traveling abroad and is now fully recovered. There is no risk
that the virus will spread, the CDPH said.”
San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District staff
members Megan Caldwell, Tina Sebay, and Brian Weber talk to
KQED’s Lesley McClurg about the risk of Zika virus risk in
the Bay Area.
San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control
District’s Megan Caldwell talks to NBC Bay Area’s Chuck
Coppola about the efforts to eradicate invasive Aedes
mosquitoes in San Mateo County.
“As one of the oldest of its kind, the San Mateo County Mosquito
and Vector Control District is hosting a centennial celebration
and inviting the public to learn about how they’re being
protected from infectious diseases.
On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the special district’s headquarters are open
to the public with games for children, live specimens available
for inspection and a chance to chat with the staff responsible
for serving residents across the county.”
“San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District employees
were out and about during Tuesday’s storm clearing leaves from
drains and gutters so there would be no standing water for
mosquitoes to lay their eggs.”
The San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector
Control reports the mosquitoes, eggs and larvae have
been found at four locations in Menlo Park near Holy
Cross Cemetery in the past week.
The invasive species surfaced last summer in Menlo Park.
It’s the first time they’ve been found in the Bay Area in
decades, according to Robert Gay, Director of San Mateo
County Mosquito and Vector Control.
The county’s mosquito and vector district is warning county
residents to take precautions against tick bites after a
Belmont resident possibly contracted Lyme disease
following a trip to Water Dog Lake Park.
The risks of exposure are greater in warmer weather because
people venture outdoors for hiking, camping and other
activities, said Dr. Nayer Zahiri, laboratory director of
the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District.
The West Nile virus was detected in the body of a gray squirrel
found in Menlo Park earlier this month, a vector
control official announced Monday.
A hawk also tested positive for the virus in June, said Angie
Nakano, a vector ecologist with San Mateo County
Mosquito and Vector Control.
Transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, the West
Nile virus tends to flare up between the spring and
fall, Nakano said, adding that “the virus and mosquitoes
multiply faster when it’s warmer.”
A dead bird collected in Woodside tested positive for West Nile
virus, the county’s first confirmed case this year which a
mosquito expert said may have come earlier this season because
of the warm weather.
Two dead squirrels that tested positive for West Nile virus
were found this week in San Carlos and Burlingame.
Chindi Peavey, an ecologist with the San Mateo County Mosquito
and Vector Control District, said the dead animals are
evidence that infected mosquitoes are in the area.
“We use the dead animals as a sentinel to know when we have an
infection in mosquitoes,” Peavey said Thursday.
Fears about West Nile-infected mosquitoes in San Mateo County
are in the air since a squirrel, which is unlikely to have
traveled very far, was confirmed to be carrying the virus.
The case is this year’s first confirmed in the county. The dead
squirrel was found July 28.
While the case is not likely to trigger an epidemic, officials
at the county’s Mosquito and Vector Control District are
concerned that the squirrel may have contracted the virus
locally.
A dead squirrel discovered in San Mateo is the first in
San Mateo County to test positive for the West Nile virus
this year, local scientists
said.
The otherwise unmarked squirrel is a sign of West Nile’s
increasing pervasiveness all over California in 2010,
Chindi Peavey, laboratory director for the San Mateo
County Mosquito and Vector Control District said.
All the April showers — followed by May and June showers —
we’ve had this year have been great for aquifers, river
ecosystems and farmers.
Unfortunately, they’ve also been great for mosquitoes.
Mosquito abatement teams in San Francisco and the Peninsula are
reporting more of the pests in marshes, pools and other
standing bodies of water thanks to heavy rains that came late
in the season and were often followed by warm fronts.
The start of West Nile virus season was marked by the county’s
first reported case of the rare but potentially fatal
human disease this year in a dead bird found in the Industrial
City.
The dead bird was found by a resident in South San Francisco on
May 15 and was taken by authorities to the California
Department of Health Services. The state agency determined
Wednesday that the bird died from the West Nile virus,
officials said.
First let me state that my primary responsibility as your Mayor
is to keep you safe. Your City Council has made a decision
that may not seem fair to some but it was the
right decision.
Our City is kept dry by the excellent condition of our levees.
It was brought to our attention several months ago that
the ground squirrel burrows along our levee, which
range anywhere from five to 30 feet in length and between
two to four feet below the soil surface, could compromise
the integrity of our levee infrastructure.
Guardian chickens, mineral oil and animal testing are all being
used this summer to prevent an increase in mosquitoes in San
Mateo County, after South Bay cities experienced a surge
in possible carriers of the West Nile virus.
Parts of San Jose, Los Gatos and Campbell are experiencing an
increase in mosquitoes that carry the virus. Dead animals
are often indicators of West Nile, signs that virus season
could be severe in August and September.
The first animal case of West Nile Virus in San Mateo County
this year has been found in a squirrel collected July 9 in the
city of San Mateo, a San Mateo County Health Department
spokeswoman reports.
An eastern grey tree squirrel was found by the San Mateo County
Mosquito Abatement District, and subsequent testing at the
University of California, Davis, concluded it tested positive
for the virus, according to spokeswoman Beverly Thames.
Despite a lighter mosquito season in San Mateo County than in
previous years, health officials are cautioning residents
to be aware of West Nile virus after the first infected animal
case was reported in a squirrel found July 9.
The squirrel — an Eastern grey squirrel found in San Mateo —
signaled that West Nile season has arrived this year in
the county.
The virus has been in the county since 2004, according to the
San Mateo County Health Department.
The first animal case of West Nile Virus in San Mateo County
this year has been found in a squirrel collected last week
in the city of San Mateo, a San Mateo County
Health Department spokeswoman said Thursday.
An eastern gray tree squirrel was found July 9 by the San Mateo
County Mosquito Abatement District, and subsequent testing
at the University of California, Davis, concluded it tested
positive for the virus, according to spokeswoman Beverley
Thames.
San Mateo County joined a list of 32 other California
communities to report a positive test for the West
Nile Virus on Wednesday. The virus was discovered in an
eastern grey squirrel that was collected on July 9 in San
Mateo by the San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement District.
A squirrel found in San Mateo County earlier this month tested
positive for West Nile virus, a likely sign that infected
mosquitoes with the potential to bite humans are among us
again, the San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement District said
Wednesday.
The squirrel’s diagnosis marks the first detection of West Nile
virus in the county this year. The virus has been detected in
the county since 2004.
The first animal case of West Nile virus in San Mateo County
this year has been found in a squirrel collected last week in
the city of San Mateo, a San Mateo County Health Department
spokeswoman said today.
An eastern gray tree squirrel was found July 9 by the San Mateo
County Mosquito Abatement District, and subsequent testing at
the University of California, Davis concluded it tested
positive for the virus, according to spokeswoman Beverly
Thames.
Local mosquito experts confirmed a squirrel collected earlier
this month in the city of San Mateo was positive for the West
Nile virus which in itself isn’t dangerous for humans but
implies the presence of infected mosquitoes.
That implication is leading health officials to urge people to
take precautions against the potentially fatal virus, such as
wearing mosquito repellent and removing standing water from
property.
There’s no need to guess at the origin of the litter that flows
into San Mateo Creek. It’s not hard to recognize.
Thursday morning, a handful of volunteers pulled 15 shopping
carts, a bicycle, several car tires and at least 10 traffic
cones from the mouth of San Mateo Creek at low tide, half a
mile from open Bay waters.
Various associations have come together to control the spread
of invasive Spartina, or cordgrass, which has contributed to
this summer’s mosquito population.
The threat of West Nile Virus continues to be present here in
San Mateo County. In an effort to alert the residents of
the county of San Mateo about the still present threat from
West Nile Virus, the San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement
District has asked each city council to help publicize West
Nile Virus and Mosquito and Vector Control Awareness Week
— April 24 through April 30 by adopting a resolution
modeled after Senate Concurrent Resolution 126 (Keane).
