A combination of less money to spend and a significant reduction in cases of the West Nile Virus has prompted county officials to scale back mosquito prevention to areas of the county.
Tony Drautz, Administrator, Environmental Health Services Oakland County Health Division, said that funding for prevention has been reduced from $500,000 to $300,000 for the county.
‘Our recommendation is to get the mosquitos before they hatch,? said Drautz.
‘During 2008 there were no cases of West Nile found in the county. However, residents still need to protect themselves’especially stagnant water where the larvae exists. Budgets are tight and the project has been scaled back by about 40 percent from other years. Still products are available to the public.?
The West Nile Virus was first detected in Michigan in August 2001 in dead crows. There were 65 WNV-positive birds detected in 10 counties including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Jackson, Calhoun, Ingham, Barry, Ottawa, and Muskegon.
Both Brandon and Groveland townships have been allocated funds to battle mosquitoes. With those funds, dunks for standing water more than 100 square feet, in addition to mosquito repellent for residents, is available.