West Nile Virus - Mount Laurel,NJ

LOL. In my county, PWC, VA... There is apparently quite a lot of mosquitoes with West Nile. About a week ago I got literally 18 bites on my legs... my kids got not that many but a handful each. Eh, what can you do? Today I was playing outside with the dog for only two minutes (I was outside earlier,. but the biting wasn't nearly as bad), and acquired 8 bites... Eh, what can you do? LIVE LIFE!!!

BTW, It is rare that is gets serious, most people that have it will show no symptoms... Read up on it...

About West Nile:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/west-nile-virus/DS00438/...

About My County:

http://www.wtop.com/41/2918737/West-Nile-virus-found-in-P...

FYI . . . Mosquitos carry the virus. I killed the mosquitos and solved the problem in my yard and for several yards around. If there is a mosquito within a mile it will find me.

I bought a large bug wacker (get the half acre size or larger). Go to the butcher and get some fresh beef liver and ask the butcher for extra blood. (Yes, he will look at you like you are crazy.) Hang the bug wacker about head high in your yard between your home and the source of the mosquitos. Attach the open container of beef liver and blood to the bottom of the bug wacker. Then go and plug the bug wacker in. The next morning unplug the bug wacker and get the dead mosquitos out of the grid and plug in the bug wacker again.

I had so many mosquitos around my home I couldn't go outside at dusk or later. I had a pool we couldn't go swimming in. I had a BBQ grill I couldn't use for cooking or entertaining in the evening.

I got two to three cups of mosquitos out of my bug wacker for the first two weeks. Then I got one + cups of mosquitos for the next two weeks. By the end of the 4th week I could go outside at dusk or at night and no mosquitos. The bats no longer flew around our home.

Why does it work? Mosquitos need blood as part of their reproductive process. Beef liver and blood works better than pork or chicken or anything else I tried.

Good luck to you and yours.

GARLIC!

I'm serious... Eat a bunch of garlic in your food, or else take garlic capsules. Mosquitoes won't bite you nearly so much. :) I'm not sure why, but I have noticed DRASTIC differences in the amounts of bites I receive when I eat garlic vs. not.

I don't even use mosquito repellent any more. I'm allergic to mosquito bites (I will swell up like crazy... an average bite will result in a lump the size of an orange... but there have been times when I can't put on pants when I get a bite on my leg. :/) and so long as I keep garlic in my diet I don't have to worry. :)

I am a hypochondriac when it come to me or my kids....but completely sane when it comes to others :). So I can tell you that your risk is still so small that he is infected. And if he was....the risk to show any symptoms is so small. And if he does show symptoms....the risk of it being serious is minuscule. If the mosquito that got him had wnv then 80% there will be no symptoms. 20% has mild symptoms. 6% serious case.

Keep a look out for symtoms...but don't let it ruin your vacation. Hard to do I know...btdt.

I just got bit by one in my kitchen this morning while feeding the kids breakfast. I don't make it one day here in Texas with out at least one bite. If I go outside for any length of time my legs and arms are covered...I am a mosquito magnet.

They just tested and found WNV here in our area...but you know what...I am just not worried about it. My kids get bitten a couple times a week with repellent and without.

It is not a big concern to me...the odds are better we are all injured or die while I drive my kids to martial arts lesson this afternoon than getting WNV.

Hugs!!

I make it a habit to not worry about the "what ifs" in life. It robs you of much peace of mind, and contentment and joy. I say this, and then will tell you that I live in north texas where there have been 10 WNV deaths, 1 in my county. AND...my adult daughter is immunosuppressed. So it is a very real fear for us. The best she can do is use precautions and be smart, and that is what she does. She doessn't live her life around the MANY "what ifs" that surround her. She lives her life experiencing the joy and wonderment of each day.

Say your son goes outside without sunscreen and gets a sunburn. Will you worry for the next 20 years that he may get skin cancer from it? It's possible, but the odds are really fairly miniscule, and therefore not worth worrying about. WAY too much negative emotional energy.

Please have fun & wear long sleeves, Long pants & cover your heads. I have gotten bitten over 60 years & never got west Nile Vires. Have fun Mum.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm

Your Mom, may not have standing water ON her porch. But neighbors might. Some Mosquitoes can travel 1 mile or more... for the point of their breeding, in order to feed.

AND did you check things like the gutters of the home? Even a dried up leaf on the ground, can harbor standing water in its crevices. Or in crevices of a rock. Even the tire tread marks in mud, can harbor water and/or breed mosquitoes. Anything that can hold water for a few days, can produce mosquitoes, potentially.
A mosquito, can breed in even 1/2 teaspoon- 1 tablespoon of water. For example.

Here are more facts about Mosquitoes:
http://www.mosquito.org/faq
http://www.control-mosquitoes.com/
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wnv/wnvfaq16.shtml

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wnv/wnvhome.shtml

There is also, bad epidemics of "Pertussis" going around in the US and a 6 month old baby in my State, died from it. I would worry more about that.