“In the past year, normally what you see is the heightened mosquito season kind of happens between May and October,” she said. “But just this past year in 2006, we saw it didn’t really die off
We’re finding West Nile virus positives basically year-round. And I would see that as a trend.”
Of the 19 West Nile-infected mosquitoes found last week, 17 were in Panorama City, which is about 15 miles southeast of downtown Glendale.
“This past weekend, the number of cases really shot through the roof in the San Fernando Valley
There’s definitely a hotbed of activity,” Dever said.
Discoveries of infected mosquitoes seem to be shifting from urban centers to the valleys, said Minoo Madon, scientific technical services director for the Greater Los Angeles Vector Control District.
That increase started last year and was largely expected to continue, he added.
“The reason is because there’s an availability of the combination of mosquitoes, wild birds and all the factors that encourage disease activity and disease transmission,” Madon said. “The valley is much hotter; the average temperatures in the valleys are anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees hotter. And the hotter the temperatures
the more active the virus gets.”
Wildlife refuge areas in the valley also become volatile breeding grounds for mosquitoes, he said. It takes only two mosquitoes to produce 300 to 500 more, he said.
“When you have wildlife areas — areas that are designated as wildlife areas — there’s another problem,” Madon said. “Every wildlife area has a history of mosquito problems because they contain large bodies of water.”
Most of the West Nile-positive mosquitoes in Panorama City came from the Pacoima Wash, where abundant aquatic vegetation is creating stagnant water, which draws insects, he said.
Vector control officials are working with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which is responsible for clearing channels, to ease the task of managing mosquito populations, Madon said.
“This will help tremendously as soon as they do that because it will not hamper our control operations, and our staff can then get out there and take care of the mosquito problems much easier,” he said.
Officials at Glendale Adventist Medical Center are always on the alert for West Nile cases, which have not been reported at the hospital, spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez said.
“We have received all the communication from the Department of Health Services,” she said. “And we have communicated that with our internal employees, so everybody is aware of the situation.”
CHRIS WIEBE covers public safety and the courts. He may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at chris.wiebe@ latimes.com.
