States Declare War on Mosquitoes.

• Position: Brief Article

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators have found detectable levels of genetic material related to the West Nile virus (but not the virus itself) in mosquitoes found in the historic Fort Touten's bunkers in New York City.

CDC officials believe this raises the possibility that the virus survived the winter and that the late-summer emerging Culex mosquitoes could still be infected. An estimated 1,900 people were unknowingly infected with the virus, 62 people became ill, and seven people died during the outbreak in the New York City area last year.

In response, 17 states (Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia) and Washington, D.C., have announced plans and have allocated money for mosquito abatement and surveillance programs. Some of these states also received support from CDC to beef up their activities.

Mosquito abatement consists of using chemicals to kill mosquitoes...