Extension News: February 2007 Archives

National program focuses on building wealth, not debt

We invite New Hampshire residents to act on their "save more, reduce debt" New Year's resolutions by joining with other Americans nationwide in the first annual America Saves - New Hampshire Saves campaign. Register now to become a New Hampshire Saver.

Your challenge: find a way to save money and then do it.

Unfortunately, the national trend is to borrow more and save less. Currently, the nation's personal savings rate is a negative one-half percent, something that hasn't happened since the Great Depression. A recent study commissioned by Consumer Credit Counseling Service, revealed that overall consumer debt increased 38 percent for households at all income levels last year.

Most New Hampshire people by now have heard of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), a mosquito-spread viral disease of birds that sometimes infects mammals, including humans. The table below shows the recent history of the virus in New Hampshire:

EEE Cases Detected in New Hampshire

	Year	Birds	Human	Other mammals	Mosquito pools
	1982	unknown	0	several (equine)	unknown
	2004	3 emus	1	3 horses	19
	2005	54 (including 2 emus)	7 (2 died)	9 horses, 1 alpaca, 1 llama	15
	2006	5 birds	0	1 horse	40

Since 1964, eight humans have fallen ill with EEE in New Hampshire—seven in 2005, and one in 2004. The number of EEE cases in birds and all mammals fell in 2006, although the number of positive mosquito pools was up, a fact that probably reflects refinements to and expansion of monitoring efforts: 11,682 pools from 59 towns tested in 2006, up from 3,969 pools from 30 towns in 2005 Three times as many communities did some type of monitoring in 2006 than in 2005.

By the way, a “pool” is just a group of adult mosquitoes of the same species that are ground up together and analyzed for the virus. Pooling them makes virus detection more sensitive—you can test many more for the same amount of money.

Clearly the EEE virus was here in 2006, but no human cases were detected in the state, perhaps because of the combination of public education, monitoring, and mosquito control efforts.

In 2006 the numbers of Cs. melanura (the principal species that spreads EEE among birds) were the highest in memory. One expert says an EEE outbreak usually follows one year after a Cs. melanura peak. Also, several lines of evidence suggest that the mosquito species, Cx. morsitans, might be more important than we thought in EEE. State public health officials are looking at the data and making several modifications to 2007 plans.

What’s in store for 2007?
We can’t predict with certainty, but there are enough worrisome indicators to recommend that state residents prepare for a significant EEE threat in late summer: the possible unappreciated role of C. morsitans, very high C. melanura numbers on 2006, lots of virus found in mosquitoes in 2006.

Clearly, the weather conditions and pattern of buildup in 2007 will tell us if and when to worry. The areas with the highest risk are likely to be the same, with southeast Rockingham County the most likely hotspot, and late summer the riskiest time.

If you’d like to read more on the subject, this 13-page fact sheet should answer most of your question. The fact sheet includes links to much more information.

For a graphic illustration of EEE in the Granite State in 2006 check this map from the state Division of Health and Human Services. Here’s the Division’s 2006 arboviral test results report.

By Dr. Alan T. Eaton, UNH Cooperative Extension entomology specialist