While it is always compelling to hear individual
anecdotes of the suffering caused by West Nile virus, the danger
posed by this disease has been blown out of proportion in the
United States (HCN, 11/12/07). In Colorado in
2006, for example, there were 724 suicides, 609 deaths due to
influenza and pneumonia, 226 deaths from drunk driving, and 1,888
deaths from accidental injuries. These certainly overshadow the six
fatalities and few dozen disabling cases of West Nile virus. Yet,
because of fear, partly magnified by the news media and pesticide
companies, the response is often out of proportion and unhelpful.
Take Sacramento, Calif., where a few cases of West Nile virus in
2005 prompted wholesale, repeated aerial spraying of permethrin
over large areas of the city. Permethrin kills only adult
mosquitoes – often a futile tactic, as the adult population
rebounds within a few days. Permethrin, classified as a possible
carcinogen, has been increasingly identified as an immune, nervous
and endocrine system disruptor in mammals. It is likely that more
people will be sickened by preventative adulticide sprayings than
would be in danger of suffering the more severe forms of West Nile
disease. Measured, integrated pest management programs that rely on
larvicides, public education and the removal of breeding habitat
are a much better and more reliable method of combating West Nile.
Claude Ginsburg
Director, No Spray
Zone
Seattle, Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The cure is worse.
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