First reported 8/10/2010 4:03 p.m.
It’s not your imagination, it’s mosquito heaven out there.
That’s why the Des Plaines Valley Mosquito Abatement District will be out spraying across Oak Park starting Tuesday at 9 p.m. The spraying should continue until about midnight. The mosquito district sprayed in River Forest last week.
In the week or so that followed the July 24 rains, the Chicago area, including Oak Park and River Forest, have been invaded by swarms of mosquitoes. While the majority of those are what biologists refer to as “nuisance” mosquitoes, there has also been a dramatic uptick in the number of mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.
According to Paul Geery, assistant manager and biologist for the district, evidence of mosquitoes carrying West Nile has been found in traps located in the area.
“In the last couple of weeks, West Nile has started to increase; it’s almost exponential,” said Geery. “One of the driving forces is the heat.”
On July 20, according to information available on the district’s Web site (www.desplainesvalleymad.com) officials had tested 1,075 pools of mosquitoes with only one testing positive for West Nile. By July 29, the district reported 22 positive West Nile readings from 1,398 pools in the district.
And the positive tests are not localized as in past years, Geery said.
“This year they’ve been everywhere” in the district’s 31 member communities.
So, far, Geery said, there have been no reports of West Nile virus in humans. However, there have been widespread reports of birds found dead of the virus.
“We’re getting a situation where if it doesn’t slow down, we could have an epidemic year like 2002,” Geery said.
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“We’ve had a huge influx of adult mosquitoes because the Chicago area is a big swamp and after the big rains they breed like crazy,” Geery said. “It’s really bad. I haven’t seen it this bad in quite some time. It’s darn close to being one of the worst.”