Health officials regroup after levy loss

By CANDACE CHASE

The Daily Inter Lake

Voters may have voted down a tax request, but mosquitoes aren't off the hook yet.

Health Officer Joe Russell remains optimistic about mounting a limited control program this year and next spring.

"I think we can still do some things," he said.

Russell said he intends to brief the county Health Board, then meet with the Mosquito Control Board to continue with a bare-bones program. It would target the most populated areas for larviciding, then move out in concentric circles.

Voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal to levy up to two mills to fund mosquito-control efforts.

Prior to the election, the board was considering using a Helena contractor to apply larvicide from the air. But that plan would have exhausted the money left in the budget from the Evergreen and Somers/Lakeside mosquito control districts.

Flathead now has a countywide mosquito district.

"I don't think we're in a position to contract with anyone," Russell said.

However, he said that an employee in the health department has gotten certified to apply pesticides. He said that she has been doing surveillance for the last week and was expected to start applying larvicide in areas such as Evergreen and Lawrence Park.

Russell said the department also would set out mosquito traps to track any incursion of the type of mosquito that most often carries West Nile virus.

"This is part of a statewide surveillance program," he said.

Russell said he couldn't speculate on the size of the mosquito problem this season. He said too many factors such as heat and wind impact mosquito numbers.

"We'll continue to have mosquitos," he said. "We'll do all we can to minimize them with the resources we have."

Russell didn't interpret the election as a vote against controlling mosquitoes but more a reflection of misinformation and tax fatigue.

"It only lost by 600 votes even with the misinformation that there is no West Nile virus here," he said. "I think the public would support it if they had the proper information."

He was referring McGregor Rhodes' statements that there's no evidence West Nile virus threatens public health. Russell said both he and the state epidemiologist dispute that since a horse in the valley tested positive for the virus last fall.

Rhodes, a former organic farmer and a current member of the Mosquito Control Board, campaigned against the levy, saying pesticides pose more of a threat to people than mosquitoes. He also argued that the public should not support a levy without a specific plan in place.

As a public official, Russell was prohibited from campaigning. However, he provided information via press releases that the board supported only surveillance and larviciding with agents not considered toxic to humans or pets.

There was no plan to spray to kill adult mosquitos.

Had the levy passed, Russell had planned to present a budget of $122,000 to the Mosquito Control Board. Russell said that would have used only about one-third of the amount available from two mills.

Since the levy lost by a small margin, he said he probably will recommend that the Mosquito Control Board seek a one-mill levy in the November general election. Even if it passes, Russell said, the money would miss a budget cycle.

By cutting back to a bare-bones program, the department could stretch the remaining dollars to cover surveillance and limited larviciding next spring. But it would spend the money raised from the former mosquito districts.

If West Nile virus becomes a threat after that, the department will have no more money to control mosquitos.

"This community is going to expect us to do something," Russell said.

He said that this situation reflects a dilemma familiar to public health officials. The public often sees no need to spend money before a disease arrives.

"If we do our job, there won't be disease," Russell said. "Prevention is sometimes invisible."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com