(June 23, 2004) -- LBReport.com posts below photographs of dead crows increasingly visible in Cerritos, possibly victims of the mosquito-borne West Nile Virus.

The photos were provided to LBReport.com by Cerritos reader Richard Pliss, who says he's seen an increasing number of dead and dying birds near his Cerritos home...and his children have likewise spotted dead birds on their way to school.

Carmenita Rd. @ Ashworth St. Photo credit: Richard Pliss

And the second photo was taken roughly a mile south at Carmenita and Village Drive:

Carmenita Rd. @ Village Dr. Photo credit: Richard Pliss

LBReport.com has previously posted maps and data from the CA Dept. of Health Services indicating that Cerritos has one of the highest totals of WNV-infected crows in L.A. County.

Cerritos and areas generally north and east of Long Beach along the San Gabriel River toward the San Gabriel River Valley have had concentrations of West Nile Virus infected dead birds.

People (and birds and horses) become infected with WNV when bitten by infected mosquitoes. Infected mosquitoes bite crows (and other corvid birds, jays, ravens, magpies)...and other mosquitoes that bite the infected birds become infected and spread WNV further. The presence of dead or dying crows is an indicator of West Nile Virus infected mosquitoes.

On the maps below (released June 18 by the CA Dept. of Health Services via www.westnile.ca.gov), the purple X's indicate dead birds (mainly crows) infected with the mosquito-borne WNV.

The X in ELB indicates LB's first WNV-infected dead bird (an American crow), recovered June 7 on Rutgers Ave., west of Bellflower Blvd., east of Clark Ave., south of Wardlow Rd. and north of Spring St.

We zoom in for a tigher view below:

As previously reported by LBeport.com, Dr. William Reisen, Research Entomologist and Director in Residence, Mosquito & Arbovirus Ecology, Davis Arbovirus Research Unit told a June 9 meeting of the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District's Board of Trustees:

"We're in the middle of the largest mosquito-borne virus outbreak in the history of North America, and the biggest West Nile [Virus] outbreak ever documented in the world." He added, "It's truly a test of organized mosquito control and public health as to whether they can rally to protect the residents of Los Angeles or the residents of California in general."

As previously reported by LBReport.com, about half of LB (greyish pink on map) receives mosquito abatement and vector control services from the LB Dept. of Health and Human Services (LBDHHS) via its Environmental Services Bureau.

The eastern half of LB, plus parts of NLB, WLB, scattered chunks and Signal Hill (all yellow on map) are within the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District (GLACVCD). It's not a County body but a "special district" (a separate layer of government) which is funded by an assessment on ELB property tax bills. [LB's NW corner (west of the 710 fwy. roughly where it crosses LB Blvd.) is handled by the Compton Mosquito Abatement District.]

LBDHHS and GLACVCD treat standing water and other mosquito breeding sources (storm drains are a big problem) with larvaecides and other items...and handle countless flood control channels, storm drains and street gutters as well as the unseen network of underground storm drains stretching for miles.

LB's Dept. of Public Health's Environmental Services Bureau told us that they have roughly five people in the field, five days a week, to handle their half of LB.

The GLACVCD says it has roughly thirty people in the field to handle the southern half of the district which includes Eastern Long Beach and part of NLB, plus Lakewood, Cerritos, Signal Hill, Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia, Downey, Carson, South Gate, Diamond Bar, Bell, Downey, Los Angeles City, San Marino, Bellflower, Gardena, eastern Los Angeles Co., Bell Gardens, Glendale, Lynwood, Santa Fe Springs, Burbank, Maywood, Huntington Park, Montebello, South El Monte, La Habra Heights, Norwalk, Commerce, Paramount, Whittier, Cudahy, La Mirada and Pico Rivera.

The Greater L.A. County Vector Control District reports the following data on June 18 (apparently from its area alone, mainly eastern L.A. County):

For the week ending June 18, the CA Dept. of Health Services reported 97 dead American crows tested positive for WNV from the Counties of San Bernardino (40), Los Angeles (40), and Riverside (17) on June 17. A total of 128 bird carcasses were tested from these three counties accounting for 75.8% positive results (97/128).

Mosquitoes breed in standing water...and government agencies have urged the public to eliminate any sources of standing water on their property and take other precautions:

LB Health Officer Dr. Darryl Sexton said in a written release issued June 18:

In its release, LB's Dept. of Health and Human Services recommended that residents take the following precautions:

For a good summary of how mosquitoes breed, see Greater L.A. County Vector Control District mosquito information page.

In text on its web page, the District recommends the following:

The District's web site says it prevents and controls mosquitoes as follows:

As for personal protection against mosquitoes, the Greater L.A. County Vector Control District web site says:

Recent LBReport.com coverage: