[GLACVCD website text] The best defense against disease transmission is being proactive and taking precautions to protect from mosquito bites. Follow these simple steps to protect yourself and your family:

• Avoid outdoor activities between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear long sleeve shirts and pants when engaging in outdoor activities during these hours.
• Apply approved insect repellents containing active ingredients such as DEET, Picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
• Keep tight-fitting screens on doors and windows to prevent mosquitoes from entering your home.
• Eliminate all sources of standing water around your home and property and properly maintain ornamental ponds, pools, and spas.
• Request FREE mosquitofish from your local vector control district for placement in out-of-order swimming pools, spas, and ponds to control mosquito breeding.
• Contact the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District at (562)944-9656 or online HERE to report any significant mosquito problems in your neighborhood. The District strongly encourages you to report any mosquito activity near vacant or foreclosed homes and abandoned swimming pools in your neighborhood.

Although the March dead crows and now July virus-carrying mosquitoes were found in zip 90808, authorities say WNV should be considered endemic regionally and assumed to be basically everywhere. WNV infected mosquitoes were recently found in relatively nearby Downey and Bellflower, along with parts of the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys.

West Nile virus is transmitted to people and animals through the bite of an infected mosquito. There is no cure for West Nile virus. One in five persons infected with WNV will exhibit symptoms, which usually occur between 5 and 15 days, and can include fever, headache, body aches, nausea, or a skin rash. These symptoms can last for several weeks to months. One in 150 people infected with the virus will require hospitalization. Severe symptoms include high fever, muscle weakness, neck stiffness, coma, paralysis, and possibly death."

In 2004, a woman in the ELB neighborhood between the Skylinks Golf Course and Wardlow Park (an area near flood control and drainage channels) died from the bite of a WNV-infected mosquito. In Sept. 2012, a young East Long Beach man became infected and at the time was reported "recovering from the affects at home."

The GLACVCD handles mosquito abatement services East Long Beach east of Lakewood Blvd. and north of PCH. Roughly 2/3 of LB is handled by the LB Health Dept. (area generally south of PCH and west of Lakewood Blvd.) and part of NLB is handled by a Compton vector control agency.