Growing Mosquito problem affecting Maverick Countians Health
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2015, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced that the recent rains and floods in Texas, including Maverick County, has caused a serious mosquitoes problem throughout the entire state. Texas officials noted that one of the favorite places for mosquitoes to live and lay their eggs are used automobile tires in one’s backyard or community tire storage areas.
Maverick County is no exception as the County has over 60,000 used tires stored at the old Caballo Dorado Arena property known as the Maverick County Fairgrounds on Old Pioneer Road close to many residential areas.
Maverick County’s used tire problem has been steadily increasing every year as the County has failed to purchase the necessary tire shredding equipment and implement used tire disposal agreements with available companies both in the United States and Mexico, compounding the mosquito problem in the community.
According to State officials, used tire storage areas may create a severe public health hazard with mosquito borne viruses such as the West Nile Virus, Dengue, and other mosquito borne ailments.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has reported the state’s first case of West Nile illness this year(2015), a case of West Nile neuro-invasive disease in a person residing in Harris County.
State officials warn that people should reduce their risk of exposure to the mosquito-borne virus that causes it by eliminating standing water and other mosquito breeding areas; making sure door, porch and window screens are in good condition; wearing long sleeves and long pants outdoors when possible, and using an insect repellent that contains DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus/para-menthane-diol when outdoors.
As many as 80 percent of people who contract the virus will have no symptoms at all and almost all others will have West Nile fever with symptoms like headache, fever, muscle and joint aches, nausea and fatigue. A very small minority will develop West Nile neuro-invasive disease, a life threatening illness that can cause neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis.
In 2014, there were 379 human cases of West Nile Virus in Texas, including six deaths. West Nile Virus has been responsible for 95 deaths in Texas since 2010.
Maverick County Commissioners Court has attempted to address the used tire problem in the past including entering into a trial run agreement with Grupo Reciclados Mexicanos (Grupo Recymex), a Mexican company from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, to haul and dispose of all the used tires in Maverick County for recycling purposes at their special meeting held on Thursday, January 29, 2015, possibly finding a solution to Maverick County’s used tire problem.
However, that agreement appears to have gone awry as the company had agreed to formulate a contract to present to Commissioners Court but has failed to return to Commissioners Court for presentation of a formal agreement.
Meanwhile, Maverick County residents are subjected to an increasing mosquitoes problem and a growing used tire storage problem at the old Caballo Dorado Arena.
Earlier this year, the Maverick County Solid Waste Authority (MCSWA) allocated $50,000 from their yearly budget to provide funding for the implementation of a tire removal program in conjunction with Maverick County. It is unclear as to what has been done under that agreement and if the program was even initialized.
Anticipating a significant increase in the state’s mosquito population, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologists are offering tips on how Texans can help slow mosquito breeding in backyards and protect themselves from being bitten.
“Mosquito populations are booming throughout the state and will likely not go away anytime soon after all our rains and flooding,” said Dr. Mike Merchant, AgriLife Extension urban entomologist in Dallas. “Not all of the mosquitoes swarming us right now are likely to carry disease, but West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes are beginning to show up in traps.”
.Merchant added that chikungunya, another disease transmitted by mosquitoes, is on the radar of U.S. and state health officials as a growing concern. He said the virus is regularly brought into the U.S. by travelers, but as yet a human-to-mosquito-to-human cycle has not developed in Texas.
“This could change, however, as it did last year in Florida where a handful of cases occurred among Floridians who had not traveled to the Caribbean,” Merchant said. “The principal mosquito vectors of chikungunya include the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, and its close relative, the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Chikungunya frequently comes with a very bad headache, joint pain, rash and fever. There is no treatment for or vaccine to protect from this disease,” said Dr. Merchant.
For more information about where mosquitoes can breed and how to identify Aedes and other mosquitoes, Dr. Merchant suggested going to AgriLife Extension’s Mosquito Safari website, http://mosquitosafari.tamu.edu.
The Maverick County Road and Bridge Department is currently spraying mosquito repellants throughout the County and also encourage property owners to get rid of any stagnant water and assure that lawns in your properties are cut and trimmed to alleviate the problem.
Meanwhile, Maverick County residents await further assistance and guidance from Commissioners Court on eliminating and disposing of the County’s growing used tire population at the old Caballo Dorado Area property and other properties throughout the County. The public health of Maverick Countians depends on Commissioners Court taking immediate and effective action to eliminate and dispose of the used tires within the County before someone is bitten by a mosquito with the West Nile Virus or some other deadly disease. There have been confirmed cases of Maverick Countians being afflicted with the West Nile Virus in past years.
The City of Eagle Pass Public Works Department have been fumigating against mosquitoes on a daily basis throughout the city limits in an attempt to control and exterminate any mosquitoes problems in the city.
