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Hi-Line Living: Mosquito District

13 years of fogging

The mosquito population in Hill County has fallen drastically since 2004.

Hill County Mosquito District Supervisor Terry Turner has said that 4,000 mosquitoes used to be caught in a light trap.  But that was before the Mosquito District was implemented. Thirteen years of fogging has decimated that number down to 250, Turner said.

In November of 2003, Hill County voters overwhelmingly passed - 1,452 votes to 222 - the mosquito district. Turner, who has always been the district supervisor, joked afterward about his surprise that 222 people in Havre liked mosquitoes.

Mosquito are more than pests that bite and leave red, ugly welts. They can do more than ruin a camping trip or a backyard barbecue. Some carry diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, Zika or West Nile, to name a few.

The threat of mosquito-transmitted diseases was a major concern when the district passed in November 2003. Advocate Terry Lilletvedt expressed concern over a then-recent emergence of West Nile virus in Montana.

"I think people really understand how important this issue is, especially from the health standpoint," Lilletvedt had said.

In Hill County, eight people, 220 statewide, contracted West Nile in 2003.

This week is National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, said Turner, a passionate believer in the obliteration of mosquitoes.

Last Saturday, Josh Miller, one of four district employees under Turner's supervision, was preparing to go fogging to kill mosquitoes while his boss was roaming the office halls in a T-shirt that said, "Mosquitoes happen. That's why we are here."

The fogging began on the first day of June and will continue until late September.

Fogging is generally done in the evening. Miller prepared the red county-owned Chevrolet Colorado for Saturday's drive. Other pre-fogging requirements are mostly weather-based. Rain washes out any chances for fogging, as does high wind. The total times foggers are out every week is, on average, between two or three, Miller said.

Each of the three fogging trucks is equipped with an engine-operated apparatus that sits under a five-gallon reservoir in which the insecticide Permanone is poured. Each truck comes with a GPS, unit part of a $26,000 network that keeps track of what areas have been fogged and the vehicle's speed at any given location. The GPS system also connects all the trucks to a home computer in Turner's office. Inside each truck is a large, yellow remote control with switches used to control the engine and the fogging machine. Turner pointed out that, despite the remote control, fogging automatically cuts off once the vehicle exceeds speeds of 20 miles per hour.

The county foggers were out in full force Saturday, as all three trucks were going to cover the district. The district includes Havre and an area 6 miles north and 6 miles south of Havre and extending 7 miles west of the city and east to the Blaine County line. Miller fogged east and west Havre, while the other two took south and north of Havre.

The moment Miller pulled out of the office yard and onto Second Street, he switched the "spray" button and the a cloud of mist began trailing behind the truck.

Miller considers himself passionate about killing mosquitoes and, given his story, it's easy to see why mosquito obliteration is something he's excited about.

In 2007, he was working in his mother's yard, installing a sprinkler system. Looking back on the day, he said he remembers being bitten by mosquitoes while he labored. But he didn't think much about it at the time.

Then he started having health problems.

"It's like the worst flu you've ever had - fever, body aches, upset stomach, chills," he said. "Headaches and the resulting nausea-like symptoms were the big one for me."

For months, Miller said, he visited doctors, and, for months, doctors couldn't figure out what was making him sick, he said.

"They even did a scope on my stomach - they thought I had ulcers or something," he said.

Some weeks the symptoms were milder than others, but he was continually sick. Eventually, Miller said, his mother suggested doctors test her son for something they hadn't.

"She had just read an article in the newspaper about the number of cases of West Nile in the state and thought it might be what I had. The article was earlier in the year and it had stuck in her mind," he said.

Miller was recommended to doctors in Great Falls, where he was finally properly diagnosed. He was bitten by mosquitoes late July and diagnosed November.

"I tested positive for an active case of West Nile at the time," he said.

The diagnoses didn't exactly provide immediate relief.

"At that point, I'm 16-years-old, and I'm thinking 'I'm going to die,' 'cause it's West Nile."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in some severe, and rare, cases, people have died from West Nile. However, most people - between 70 and 80 percent - never experience any symptoms, CDC says.

Miller said he has never been the same since his West Nile went in remission. There is no cure for the infection. He said he's had numerous medical issues, such as heart arrhythmia, since. He said he has no evidence to suggest West Nile had weakened his immune system, but that is exactly what he believes has happened.

The CDC reports West Nile can leave lasting damage.

"Some of the neurologic effects may be permanent," it says on their website.

When fogging, Miller said, he pays special attention to areas where children are likely to play, or are.

"If I can save a kid from West Nile, I will absolutely be very thorough," he said, as he was driving around the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line.

Other areas are given special attention for other reasons.

"The west side tends to have a lot of issues, and also, the north side, with the river and all. In downtown you have stagnant water by Bullhook, the drainage system. And in the city you have people with pools," he said.

People's reactions to the fogging are manifold. Some speed up in the opposite direction. Others stop and look, puzzled, perhaps wondering what the mist coming out of the apparatus is. Others lift their shirts and cover their face. And there are many who wave and smile. The strangest response, Miller said, was a pack of kids who chased his truck and ran into the fog and tried to inhale it.

Miller, and Turner, said they know there are people who are not ecstatic about the Mosquito District.

"We've had people throw stuff at our trucks. We've had issues," he said, adding others have accused them of poisoning the environment.

Turner knows the complaints well. But he's done his research and is on the fogging side.

"The benefits far outweigh the risk," Turner said.

Turner cited Montana State University entomologist and risk assessment scientist Bob Peterson, who, in a paper titled "MSU helps weigh the risks of West Nile Virus vs pesticides" said the risk from the fog is low.

"As for the risk of pesticides, both to humans and the rest of nature, the risk associated with properly used pesticides is much, much lower than the risk associated with West Nile Virus," Peterson says.

Turner said in May that some people are allergic to the chrysanthemum derivative in the fogging spray, but other than that, there is no harm to fogging.

For Miller, anti-foggers miss the point.

"As someone who's had West Nile, I can guarantee you we are preventing people from getting sick, just with the volumes of mosquito we are taking out," he said. "There's very few people who complain."

He believes so much in what he does that he'd probably do the job for free, he said, adding though, that he hopes his boss doesn't get wind of that and decide to stop paying him.

 

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