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LISA GREENEHealth officials are rushing repellent to those left homeless to stop the spread of West Nile virus.
Hurricane victims are homeless, their yards are dripping wet, and the mosquitoes are everywhere.
Public health officials are afraid the combination may yield a new threat in Charley's wake: West Nile virus.
"If they don't have enough to worry about, they ought to think about West Nile, especially some of the older people," said Jonathan Day, professor at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory of the University of Florida.
The virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, causes mild illness in most people but can be fatal, especially for the elderly. Tests have found the virus this year in 25 Florida counties, including Lee, Orange, Polk and Volusia, all in Charley's path. State health officials are delivering mosquito repellent to hand out to hurricane victims, and some relief agencies, such as the American Red Cross, also are bringing in repellent. Mosquito control officials have started emergency spraying, and state officials said Tuesday they will even call in military planes to help spray if needed.
"Mosquitoes are the largest transmitter of disease in the world," said Terence McElroy, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "Commissioner (Charles H.) Bronson is very concerned about this and wants to make sure these communities have adequate resources."
Day urged people to protect themselves against mosquitoes but also said not to panic. The hurricane may have even cut the longer-term risk of West Nile by killing and blowing away mosquitoes and birds, he said.
That's because mosquitoes infect birds with the disease. Other mosquitoes then bite the same birds, become infected themselves, and spread it to more birds in an expanding spiral that scientists call amplification.
"The bird population is so disrupted now, the chance of amplification is pretty small," Day said. "You have to have a pretty fixed bird population and a pretty fixed mosquito population."
He pointed to 1960's Hurricane Donna as an example. In 1959, 1961 and 1962, rates of another mosquito disease, St. Louis encephalitis, were epidemic in the St. Petersburg area. But not in 1960, the year Donna struck.
Still, even if the disease might not spread as easily now, mosquitoes already infected with West Nile are likely still around, especially in areas on the edge of the storm's path. The species of mosquito most likely to carry West Nile can live five to six months.
State health officials are checking for mosquitoes in hurricane areas and have asked for federal help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said veterinarian Lisa Conti, director of the state Division of Environmental Health.
She urged people to prevent mosquito bites: to dress in long sleeves and pants; wear repellent containing DEET outside; stay inside from dusk to dawn; and drain areas of standing water.
"We're hoping the power comes up fairly quickly," she said, so that people can return to their homes.
People should be especially careful about mosquitoes in the Tampa Bay area, Day said. There haven't been any human cases here this year, but 30 birds have tested positive in Hillsborough County.