OPINION: Against Spraying Against West Nile Virus in Port Washington

I am surprised that nobody has . Are we all so brainwashed that we question nothing that the (local) government does? 

I spent a large part of yesterday trying, in vain, to get my property excluded from the invasive, toxic spraying of Scourge. That name alone should frighten people!

I practice environmentally safe mosquito control. It takes a little time and effort, but this year I have a yard full of butterflies, 100 plus at a time, dragonflies over my Koi pond and, yes I do get the odd mosquito bite if I do not put on repellent, but nature abounds.

We lived in Little Neck before moving to Port and there was aerial spraying for the WNV “emergency” in 1999. After this, we saw virtually no butterflies or bees for 3 years! The birds suffered from a lack of insects and the rhythm of nature was severely interrupted.

While it is absolutely tragic that 41 people have died in Texas (the headline that seems to be everyone’s excuse) and one in Nassau County so far this year, there is little scientific evidence that spraying is an effective counter measure. However scientific studies of Resmethrin (Scourge), which also contains Piperonyl Butoxide reveal serious safety concerns. See: http://www.pesticide.org/get-the-facts/pesticide-factsheets/pesticide-factsheets#resmethrin  Once the window opens up you can click on Resmethrin and Piperonyl to get the facts.

Although during the fogging, flying mosquitoes within the treated area are killed and the local mosquito population is reduced for a few days, fogging DOES NOT prevent mosquitoes from re-entering the area as larva hatch. When I asked a Nassau County official in charge when she had scheduled the next round of spraying, she could not tell me! When I suggested that this might merely be a “cover your butt” exercise she did not respond!

If pesticide spraying significantly reduced the risk of contracting WNv, and if WNv were a serious health threat to most people, I might see their point. That said, no stats support the conclusion that pesticide spraying reduces the incidence of WNv. Therefore, I sense that their use of  a preventive strategy is a fallacy. By most accounts the pace/incidence of WNv went up in Texas after the aerial spraying.

WNv is no malaria, but people seem to almost conflate their respective danger levels. WNv is akin to acquiring a mild summertime virus in most people. In those in whom the virus acts more fearsomely, it remains unclear just how much of the virulence is due to WNv or to other underlying conditions. We have yet to see a recent report of a child dying from WNv. Literally every case I've read about of people who have died of WNv involves people who are 68+ with multiple other diseases/illnesses (and I am almost that age and NOT worried, having lived in Africa and many other parts of the world where there are really dangerous viruses).

All that said, why allow your property and others to be sprayed with KNOWN carcinogens when it’s not even preventing the outcome that pesticide companies and alarmist headlines have mistakenly made us fear so much?

Gavin Pike, the author of this post, resides in Port Washington. The opinions expressed here are solely that of the author