Barrie’s annual West Nile virus (WNv) control program is underway.
The medical officer of health from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit issued the notice to larvicide for Barrie on April 23, 2024, requiring that city-owned catch basins receive larvicide application during the summer months for 2024, beginning in late June.
City-owned catch basins located on private property will not be scheduled for larvicide application, and will be managed on a request only basis by the landowner, to Barrie’s waste management and environmental sustainability branch. A consent form must be signed by the landowner prior to treatment.
Spread to people by mosquito bites after the bugs bite an infected bird, WNv can cause humans to become ill, and in rare cases cause meningitis, inflammation of the brain and loss of muscle function — although many people infected with WNv have mild or no symptoms.
The local health unit's WNv surveillance program includes monitoring municipal catch basins, stormwater ponds and natural sites for mosquitoes and to conduct adult trapping.
Surveillance is being performed by health unit staff on a weekly basis.
The Culex pipiens/restuans species of mosquitoes typically breed in catch basins and are a major contributor to viral infections in birds.
The larvicide, when applied to the catch-basin sumps, will disrupt the mosquito’s life cycle and adult mosquitoes will not emerge.
By reducing the adult Culex population, amplification of WNv is reduced, as is the risk of exposure to WNv in the human population.
The WNv control program cost is funded 70 per cent by the health unit and 30 per cent by the city.
The treatment period is from June 1, 2024 to Oct. 31, 2024.
For more information on West Nile virus, visit simcoemuskokahealth.org.
