West Nile WARNING for MNRF

[AmazonSage]

One case of West Nile in Carver county found only a couple of days ago.  The MNRF grounds lays next to the border of Carver county.  People in the area are advised to use DEET containing repellent.
Please spread the word to other fairgoers; as most of us know the MNRF is a huge mosquito feeding grounds.

[Charlotte Rowan]

Great.... just what we need...

[Muffin]

great......

makes the numerous mosquito bites I already have itch even more... BLAST!!!! 

[Ren Jen]

Isn't that only really dangerous to infants and the elderly? 

I had to look it up. 80% of us that get it will have no symptoms.  20 will get mildly ill, and only 1 in 150 will get really sick. 


http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm

[Baron Doune]

More worried about Bees in my mead.

I really don't think I've ever been chewed on by the mosquitoes at farie.  Now at Jabs, the swamp next door..yup.  Been breakfast many a time.

[AmazonSage]

There's been 3 cases of west nile in the last week, one was a teenager under 16.  Any adult with a weakened immune system is also at risk... I've got a higher risk then other adults and I know many other festies that are also at higher risk; so I thought I'd just be nice and warn others.

[Erynn]

Thanks for the heads up AmazonSage!

Must remember not to eat bananas. For some reason after I do, I get bitten more then any other time.

[DeadBishop]

Thanks for the heads up AmazonSage!

Must remember not to eat bananas. For some reason after I do, I get bitten more then any other time.

I've heard that eating bananas makes the skeeters more attracted to you.  I've also heard that garlic has the opposite effect.

[Erynn]

Thanks for the heads up AmazonSage!

Must remember not to eat bananas. For some reason after I do, I get bitten more then any other time.

I've heard that eating bananas makes the skeeters more attracted to you.  I've also heard that garlic has the opposite effect.

Good to know I'm just not a freak! Hehe. I'm the only one in my family that bananas have that affect though. Weird.

*must develop a taste for garlic*

[Charlotte Rowan]

Hmmm, good excuse to frequently visit the garlic booth.

Amazon, it is better to be warned! Even if I'm unlikely to get symptoms, I'd still prefer to do what I can to avoid getting West Nile at all!!

[escherblacksmith]

Just because I can, the garlic and banana deals are both myths (although garlic is still possible if the smell is sufficient to drive people away). 

The only proven effective way is using a repellant with deet or picardin in it.   The more deet the longer it will last on your skin, the less deet, the more often you need to reapply.  One other thing to note, the names of most of these formulas are misleading, Deet isn't a "repellant" it is a masker.  It inhibits and messes with the insect's receptors that tell it that food is nearby.

I like 3M's Ultrathon myself.  Especially under the kilt.

[Goody]

my gpa had first case of west nile in MN back a couple years ago. while visiting in CO my 30 yr old cousin was very sick (west nile) after coming home Grandpa startin getting funny (I drove him to Hospital for the 3rd time in two days with convulsions and 105 temp we kept saying it couldnt be west nile? and they would only consider as last resort) sure enough west nile (they can't actually diagnose it until ur better). Being he was elderly he actually did really well in recuperating but it can leave you with  aftereffects. It is certainly visible that it took many years off his life. In other words I have dealt with it close enough and DO NOT WANT IT!

[groomporter]

Oh and here's what Snopes website has to say about the effectiveness of non-deet containing mosquito repellents.
http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/skeeters.asp

[Ren Jen]

Sorry if I insulted anyone.  I guess I just took it as a fact of life that it's here and it's not going away. Sorry your family members suffered Goody.  I hope they are all fine now. 

[Oldarcher]

I had a little dose of it a couple of years ago. When I woke up with a hundred and two temp that lasted a day, it struck how many dead crows I'd seen on roads up near the cabin the weekend before. Dead crows are a rareity! The locals believe WNV had a lot to do with the grouse population crash of the year before last, in a year it should've skyrocketed.

[Doc Tyma]

Well, regardless, it is good to know.  Heck, the way the weather is going this year, it might be 40 degrees out here in August.

[Lord Figaro]

This is Minnesota after all, anything is possible.

[groomporter]

Unless it rains soon I think we'll have to worry more about sandstorms and Shai hulud .

[Goody]

Sorry if I insulted anyone.  I guess I just took it as a fact of life that it's here and it's not going away. Sorry your family members suffered Goody.  I hope they are all fine now. 

I surely wasn't insulted. What u said is true from what I hear is that most people never even know they got it. Gpas is fine. He's just old. We always joke tho cuz once uv had it u are immune from getting it again. So when are doping up and mentioning west nile my gpa loves to nonchalantly say Oh I dont worry about that (cuz it almost already killed me!)

[Phelyp, Lord Maydestone]

Hopefully the hot dry weather will keep the mosquito population down.  Anything's better than the flood on opening weekend last year!

[Lord Figaro]

It would be nice to have a dry fest season wouldn't it?

[groomporter]

But too dry and it get's so dusty however. We need a "Camelot" weather system that only rains at night, (or only on weekdays) and not too hard.

[Tipsy Gypsy]

More worried about Bees in my mead.

They don't drink much Baron- but watching a drunk bee staggering around in the palm of my hand a few years ago is a favorite faire moment!

I'm a mosquito magnet, and for what it's worth, I'd been told for years that Avon's Skin So Soft lotion successfully deters the buggers- and this by men who'd sooner die than wear anything that might smell "girly". I tried it myself because milord finds the odor of DEET most repugnant indeed. The SSS does work quite well, surprisingly, and doesn's reek or smell "girly" if you get the original or the fragrance-free.

West Nile is common in my area, but rarely do we have reported cases, and rarer still to have serious ones, thank God. The best defense is common sense- repellent of some sort, and a healthy constitution.

[Baron Doune]

But Tipsy!

I mean, well, Skin so Soft?  Do I have to? 

And what about East Nile Virus thing or the Southwest Nile virus..ya, get no press what so ever...what about that!  Ha!  Poor little guys...you can feed one for only pennys a day, ya know.

Drunk bees...drunk barons.  hmmm...something to think about.

[groomporter]

Do the community a favor! 
Drink more mead and the skeeters will be too drunk to bite someone else!

[Tipsy Gypsy]

And the alcohol should kill any virus, right? *head slap* Why didn't I think of that; I've never been bitten by mosquitoes while drinking mead!

Hope the pesky little bastidges leave all of you alone up there!