SALT LAKE CITY– Evaluating for West Nile Virus in Utah this season has actually been a fraction of what it was last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mosquito abatement districts and health departments stated they’ve shifted resources far from West Nile Infection out of necessity to help in the coronavirus action.
” Thankfully, this year, we’re simply not seeing as numerous favorable mosquito swimming pools out there,” said Ary Faraji, executive director and entomologist for the Salt Lake City Mosquito Reduction District.
Faraji is also the existing president of the American Mosquito Control Association.
” The mosquitoes aren’t necessarily at home, and we can’t eliminate mosquitoes from home,” he said.
That’s one factor West Nile Virus screening is down this season.
The seasonal staffing they depend upon for fieldwork is down because of the infection.
Faraji thought many people, who would have otherwise gotten the tasks, did not apply this year, due to the fact that they did not wish to work during the pandemic.
” It was really tough for us to make changes in the beginning of the season,” he stated. “We just didn’t have adequate workers on personnel.”
That triggered testing to fall back.
” Sadly, up until last week, we’ve only tested at the state level about 5 percent of what we had done the previous year in 2019,” Faraji stated.