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Swimming pools cause Mahoning health issue
The board declared as public health nuisances seven properties in five areas.
AUSTINTOWN — One of the consequences of foreclosures in Mahoning County is more unattended swimming pools that serve as prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
“It’s pretty simple. After their homes are foreclosed on, the people, at some point, just walk away from the property. There is food in the refrigerator and the pool is full of water, or water has accumulated on the cover,” said Rick Setty, director of environmental health for the Mahoning County District Board of Health.
The department’s sanitarians respond to complaints about the properties, which give them the authority to enter the properties to determine if the complaints are valid, and if mosquitoes and/or mosquito larva are present, Setty said.
Complaints about the pools at the height of the mosquito season resulted in a number of requests from townships and municipalities for the board of health to declare them a public health nuisance. That action gives the governmental units the authority to pump the water out of the pools, Setty said.
At its meeting Wednesday, the health board declared seven properties in Austintown, Milton, Boardman and Canfield townships and in Canfield city to be public health nuisances for that purpose.
In a related matter, Setty said that because of a reduction in funding, the county health department is not running its mosquito trapping program this summer. As a result, Setty said he has no information on local mosquitoes or whether any are carrying the West Nile virus.
The Ohio Department of Health said, however, that as of Monday, some mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile virus, but that statewide tests on 15 horses and 50 birds were all negative. There has been one human case of West Nile virus reported so far this year, a 20-year-old female from Ottawa County, who has recovered, according to ODH.
ODH asks anyone who finds dead crows or blue jays to contact the local health department.
Setty, who said his department has received a few calls about dead birds, said birds — crows and blue jays seem to be particularly susceptible — and other animals, including humans, are infected when bitten by female mosquitoes.
He asked people who find dead birds on their property to bag them and bring them to the health department’s lab at 116 Westchester Drive in Austintown. Another option is to place the bird in a bag and put it in the trash. As a cost-cutting measure, health department personnel no longer collect dead birds, he said.
They do respond to complaints involving standing water, such as a pool. “From the beginning, our plan has been to eliminate standing water and breeding areas,” he said.
Setty said health department personnel place a larvicide product, generically called “dunk-it,” into the standing water to kill the larva. He noted that the product can be purchased over the counter, and that no special license is needed to use it.
alcorn@vindy.com