-Caveat Lector- CITY ON ALERT AS PESTS SPREAD DEADLY VIRUS By DAVID SEIFMAN New York Post. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- The city launched an unprecedented war against mosquitoes in northern Queens yesterday after 24 people were stricken with bug-borne encephalitis - and two of them died. Mayor Giuliani urged New Yorkers not to panic, as officials identified the dead as an 80-year-old man and an 87-year-old woman. The Queens residents died Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, at Flushing Hospital. Officials said the man was the first confirmed death in New York City from St. Louis Encephalitis, a rare but potentially fatal disease of the central nervous system. The disease is believed to have killed the woman, too, but officials said they're awaiting lab results before saying so definitively. "Obviously, it's easy to say to people don't panic - they shouldn't," said Mayor Giuliani at a press conference with health and emergency personnel outside marshy Powell's Cove, believed to be an epicenter of the mosquito explosion. "We'll do everything we can to wipe out the mosquito population." Officials emphasized that the chances of being bitten by the Culex pipiens mosquito - the only one that carries the virus - were slim. And most of those who are bitten will develop no symptoms, said Dr. Neal Cohen, the city's health commissioner. The virus cannot be transmitted person to person. "Approximately one out of 300 mosquito bites of an infected mosquito - and the number of infected mosquitoes is likely to be very small relative to the overall mosquito population" - will result in transmittal of the disease, said Cohen. But Giuliani cautioned, "It can be very, very dangerous, particularly for people over 60." Taking no chances, officials mobilized for a type of health emergency more common to leafy suburbs and Southern swamps than the nation's largest city. Helicopters filled with Malathion, described as a "quite safe" insecticide, began spraying sections of College Point, Whitestone and Auburndale for two hours from 6:45 p.m. Wide-scale street spraying was planned for today. More than 250 workers fanned out across a 4-square-mile area, distributing leaflets about St. Louis Encephalitis and 17,000 cans of insect repellent. Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jules Polonetsky declared insect and mosquito repellent in short supply and invoked his emergency power to prohibit price-gouging on the remaining stock. "If you can, stay in," Giuliani urged residents in the affected neighborhoods. "If you have to go out, wear long-sleeve shirts, pants, socks. Don't wear shorts." After spraying himself, the mayor also recommended that residents obtain bug sprays that contain no more than 30 percent DEET, a powerful insecticide. Jerry Hauer, director of the mayor's Office of Emergency Management, called on homeowners to clear their properties of any standing water - breeding grounds for the biting bugs. "Even something as small as a flowerpot which has a little dish holding water," said Hauer. "Mosquitoes are known to breed in that as well." Giuliani said the city first became aware of a potential health problem about 10 days ago. But he said the Centers for Disease Control didn't confirm it as St. Louis Encephalitis until 2:30 p.m. yesterday. The mayor said the stricken include three residents of The Bronx, who live across from Powell's Cove, and a lower Manhattan man who works in Whitestone. Ironically, the outbreak occurred in a year of near-drought, when many traditionally mosquito-ridden areas have been reporting a bite-free summer. But people living near Powell's Cove say they've been driven batty by mosquitoes for years. Bob Dandrea, 41, an engineer who lives on 11th Avenue off 138th Street, said his family has to sleep under mosquito nets. "My dog, when she goes out of the house, she comes right back in," said Dandrea. "This is the first year I've had to brush [the mosquitoes off] my dog before she comes in." "They seem to cling to you more," said Richard Reilly, vice president of the Taxpayers Association of College Point. "As soon as the rain comes, they come out and they're very aggressive." Vickey Lanzellotto, who also lives across from Powell's Cove, said the city stopped spraying the wetlands about 10 years ago because the insecticide being used turned out to be poisonous. Dr. Annie Fine, an epidemiologist with the city Health Department, said that mosquitoes had never posed a health threat here before. "We have never had a serious outbreak like this as a mosquito-borne illness in New York City. So there's no health reason we needed to spray for mosquitoes," she said. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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