GUSTINE – Officials with the Merced County Mosquito Abatement District have been pleasantly surprised that no West Nile Virus has been detected in the Gustine area this summer, but caution that the virus could emerge as the West Side heads into its peak mosquito season.

Bruce Bondi, assistant manager, said the district will be keeping a close eye on the area’s mosquito populations and will continue the surveillance program which is essentially an early warning system designed to detect West Nile if the virus is present in the area.

“With the amount of virus occurring in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, for us not to have shown any in the Gustine area is pretty amazing,” said Bondi. “There is certainly the possibility that we will have some positives (during the peak season).”

The virus was detected in sampling conducted near the Livingston area.

Officials with the Turlock Mosquito Abatement District, which serves the western portions of Stanislaus County, said last week that West Nile was detected in mosquito samples collected along the San Joaquin River near Newman.

Typically, Bondi said, late August and September are peak seasons for mosquito activity on the West Side because the wetlands are flooded.

“Our trap counts are on average so far this year, but they will start picking up as the wetlands flood up,” he explained. “There will be more activity.”

As the wetlands flood, Bondi added, the district conducts operations in those areas to spray the mosquito larvae.

Officials are keeping a particularly close watch on the mosquito population this fall after changing their  early-season strategy this year.

Since West Nile first surfaced in the area, the district has aggressively sprayed in the spring – hoping that keeping mosquitoes in check early in the year would lead to lower populations of adult mosquitoes during the peak fall months.

Budgetary constraints forced the district to conserve its resources this year, limiting the amount of preventative spraying operations in the spring.

“We are very interested in seeing if those populations increase in the fall, or if they stay level,” Bondi pointed out. “If the numbers do go up significantly this fall, it will indicate that what we had done in past years was successful. If they stay about the same, perhaps what we were doing (with the early spraying) was not so important. It will be a good test for us, and the state is very interested and following it closely as well.”

The district is prepared to launch ground and aerial spraying operations as needed this fall, he stressed.

Preventative spraying will also take place prior to the OLM Celebration and home football games to keep those community events as mosquito-free as possible, Bondi noted.

“We are well aware of the big festa, and we also have Gustine High’s football schedule,” he said.

District officials are warning residents against becoming complacent about exposure to mosquitoes.

Residents are urged to wear mosquito repellent when outdoors, and to limit outdoor activity during the dawn and dusk hours when the insects are most active.

Bondi also stressed the importance of reporting dead birds (such as crows, magpies and jays) which can be one indicator that West Nile Virus is present, and of notifying the district of mosquito problems.

Residents are also urged to eliminate any sources of standing water on their property. Mosquitoes can breed in very small amounts of stagnant water.

Dead birds may be reported to a state hotline. The toll-free number is 877-968-2473.

Mosquito problems or potential breeding sites may be reported to the abatement district at 722-1527.