Mosquito control advocated

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jun 24, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Doug Easterbrook, of Denham Springs, knows firsthand how devastating the West Nile virus can be.

He caught the mosquito-borne virus in July 2002, and nearly lost his life.

Easterbrook recalls that the disease started with flu-like symptoms and eventually forced him to pass out as he was seeking help at a local hospital.

Easterbrook said he was in the hospital for 13 days, and was unconscious for six days.

“At one point, the doctors said to anyone who might want to see me one last time (to do so then), because they didn’t think I was going to make it,” the 68-year-old Easterbrook said.

After he regained consciousness, Easterbrook had to deal with the discomfort caused by his swollen brain pressing against the inside of his skull.

Easterbrook’s story has a happy ending; he recovered after about three months, and lives a normal life.

LSU Agriculture Center researcher Wayne Kramer said there have been more than 900 human cases of West Nile virus recorded in Louisiana since the disease made its debut in the state in 2001. Of those cases, 26 resulted in deaths.

Kramer said the severity of West Nile can vary widely from year to year. He noted there were no West Nile human cases recorded in East Baton Rouge Parish last year.

Mosquito control districts throughout the greater Baton Rouge area routinely trap and test mosquitoes for West Nile and other viruses, he said.

Kramer, Easterbrook and mosquito control officials from Hammond to West Baton Rouge Parish came together Monday for Mosquito Awareness Week.

Matthew Yates, director of East Baton Rouge Mosquito Abatement and Rodent Control, said that in south Louisiana, the awareness effort has been dubbed Pilez Mosquito Week, noting that “pilez” is a Cajun word for swat, crush or smash.

In dealing with mosquitoes and especially West Nile virus, the best offense is a good defense, Yates said.