Earlier this week I had the flu and felt lousy. I didn’t go to the doctor’s at all and just suffered for a couple days. It wasn’t until I read an article from last month about West Nile virus here in Las Vegas that it occurred to me it may have been that bug. They say there were 8 cases reported.
In that piece they mention abandoned swimming pools as a reservoir for the mosquitoes that transmit the virus. This was confirmed when I learned a little more about West Nile. In this podcast (from 2008) they talk about Bakersfield California and how people left during a heatwave, and because of high electricity costs, shut off the filter equipment in their pools. In fact, they linked to a CDC (Centers for Disease Control) article with a satellite picture about it. You can see the green where the pools have become overgrown with algae and available to mosquitos.
The red arrows show abandoned (green) pools that harbor the mosquitoes.
Apparently, the brand of mosquito that transmits the virus can smell polluted or stagnant water and goes there to lay its eggs.
So what does this have to do with Vegas? Guess which city had the highest foreclosure rate last year? Us. And what happens when people abandon their houses or don’t have enough money to keep them up? You got it; they let the pool go to pot.
So, I did a little Google Earth to look for green pools in Vegas. Here’s an example:
Guess which one of the houses above is in foreclosure?
So did I get West Nile? I don’t really know and I don’t think anyone really knows how many cases there are around here. After all, I wasn’t sick enough to go in for treatment and there’s probably a lot of other people who haven’t either.
I did find out the mortality rate for this disease is about 4.5%, but only if you have a severe case — in fact, most cases are symptom free, 80% or so.
The mosquitoes don’t travel all that far from their pond (unless there’s a strong wind or something) so you might want to check Google Earth and see what your neighbors are up to, although that’s not the best, since the pictures may be dated. The best you can do is wear mosquito repellant for a few days after a rainstorm (rarer here in Las Vegas).
If I did have it, I’m now immune. So that’s an upside for me.
