This is an update on the state's West Nile Virus response plan. Newport, Middletown, and Westerly plan to begin ground spraying on Monday evening at 7 p.m., weather permitting. Westerly will spray populated areas within a two-mile radius of Sherwood Drive. Newport will spray most residential areas of the city. Middletown will spray four neighborhoods near the Newport line that fall within the two-mile radius of Cliff Terrace in Newport. No community will spray near open water or farm fields.

All three communities have announced local telephone numbers that residents can call for information on spraying in their area. They are:

DEM's Mosquito Information line - 789-8575 - will be manned Sunday from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Monday for general information.

HEALTH's Family Health Information Line - 1-800-942-7434 will return voice messages until 9 p.m. on Sunday and will be open as usual on Monday.

Media contact at DEM is Stephanie Powell, 222-4700 ext. 4418, pager 482-2968. DEM will issue additional bulletins on an as needed basis to report on new information.

The RI Departments of Health and Environmental Management are responding in accordance with their joint Response Protocol for Mosquito-Borne Diseases (including Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile Virus). This Protocol also governs state-local coordination on prevention, preparedness and response. The Protocol is posted on the DEM web page (see below). More details follow below.

Status of Incident: West Nile Virus has been found in two new communities. A crow collected on Sherwood Drive in Westerly on August 17 and a crow collected on Cliff Terrace in Newport on August 16 tested positive for the virus at the University of Rhode Island virology laboratory. The lab reported the results to DEM on Saturday evening.

Status of Activities: DEM initiated its Mosquito-Borne Diseases Response Protocol, and contacted the Governor, municipal officials from Newport, Middletown and Westerly, state agencies, and area legislators Saturday evening. A meeting between DEM officials, chief municipal officials and public works officials from the three communities was held at noon today, where DEM handed out GIS-generated locus maps that identified streets within the two-mile ground spray radius recommended under the protocol. Based on the spray rate of the state's four available sprayers, which will be loaned to the communities, spraying is estimated to take five hours.

A media briefing was held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, August 27 at Newport City Hall attended by municipal officials from the three communities and representatives from DEM and the Department of Health. Newport and Middletown will use three of DEM's truck-mounted ultra-low-volume sprayers, and Westerly will use one. Westerly also has a contract with a private pesticide applicator who will do some of the ground spraying. The spray equipment will be picked up from DEM's Pawtuxet Warehouse Depot on Warwick Avenue in Cranston Monday morning. The four sprayers, already calibrated and ready to go, are equipped with sufficient amounts of the pesticide Sumithrin and safety equipment to adequately treat the response area.

Sumithrin is a pyrethroid-based adulticide effective for controlling mosquitoes. The active ingredient in Sumithrin is a man-made pesticide, similar to natural groups of pesticides called pyrethrin, which come from plants such as the common chrysanthemum. These pesticides are also used in pet shampoos, flea sprays and household insect sprays. Spraying will be at dosage levels far below human health threshholds, per EPA guidelines.

Spraying is part of a comprehensive program of mosquito control and disease prevention. Spraying will be conducted in accordance with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state protocol guidelines. Health risks associated with the use of Sumithrin in this manner are negligible. As with any pesticide, common sense measures are recommended to reduce exposure.

In order to minimize the potential for accidental exposure, city officials have been advised to have the spray truck preceded with a warning vehicle of some sort.

Anyone experiencing adverse reactions to pesticides should call their doctor or the Regional Center for Poison Control at 1-800-682-9211. Persons with asthma or other respiratory problems should stay indoors during spraying.