The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Province should pick up tab for West Nile virus prevention, Strickland says terloo Regional Coun. Sean Strick, land wants the provincial government to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to West Nile virus prevention. Strickland said if all Ontario municipalities are mandated to apply larvicide in selected areas to prevent the spread of the virus, then the province should pick up the full tab. The province intends to pay too per cent of the cost of the larvicide, but only 50 per cent of the cost of its application. So far regional council has only approved spending $50,000 on the application, and Strickland doesn't think it's fair for the province to expect any more cost cover- 'tm not sure what the province's rationale is," Strickland said. "This is a provincewide public health initiative to protect Ontario citizens. It should be fully funded." V That translates into a bill of about $87,500 for the Region, of Waterloo. West Nile virus is spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. Mos- quitoes become infected when they bite a bird or other animal that carries the The atea‘s largest selection at unique pottery, glass, lewellery and etatts by more than 350 Caution artists and artisans. plus cards. music. Boeaandmomktaworm,trundtyatmotphtmr. Oil Lanps, Nattue thetamcatcNNs. Mes Wax Camila: Unique Jewellery in all media including Celtic and Moths. art cards 8 CD'S for relaxation. meditation, easy listening and children, f.i9t8?...ltttit9..1t.Lt,2p1l,r.r1r Mpvjn'g The virus does not BIANDmBum 33 Ertt St. W. Waterloo 746-5829 ChronicieStir Mon-m "krrrr5:30prtt,mutt.-Fti. lean-9pm may lOawsmpm. Smduy inn-Sun In The Atrium Water Founfdns. Stoned Gm. spread directly from person to per?on, - Only about 20 per cent of the people infected with the virus become ill and exhibit symptoms. The symptoms, which include mild fever, headache, muscle aches, stiff neck, swollen glands initiative to protect Ontario citizens. It should be fully funded. " 'Tm not sure what the province's rationale is. This is a prouincewide public health Sean Strickland regional councillor and skin rash, can occur three to 15 days following the bite on an infected mos- quite. A recommendation to approve spending $175,000 on a West Nile virus man- agement program, which includes monitoring, public education, mosquito con- trol and standing water reduction, went before the region's community services committee for approval yes- terday. The larviciding process involves applying larvicide pellets to catch basins and standing water to kill mos- quite larvae. Ttie program is expected to go before regional council for final appmyal May 28. But according to repre- sentatives from the local public health department, larvicide application will only occur when Dr. Liana Nolan, the region's chief medical officer of health. deems it necessary. And that judgment will be based on recommenda- tions from a pest control operation hired to survey 50 sites across the region. "Our goal is to only larvi- cide if our first two (meth- ods) don't work," said Shawn Zentner. the region's manager of environmental health and injury protec- tion. "And those are through public education and source water reduction. Then would come larviciding fol- lowed by adulticiding, which we would use either if the first two points don't work or if the province says we have to." Zentner said the risk of exposure to the virus has part of the public con- cerned, given the random- ness of the illness. But he said it's important to keep those concerns in perspective. _ _ _ "There is the real risk, and then there's the per- ceived risk, where people are more concerned than they need to be," he said. "lt's the lack of control that worries people the most." But Zenter encouraged people to take their own precautions when trying to avoid the virus, such as eliminating standing water 'That's something peo- ple can control," he said. Do-it-yoursElF -- You lust have to install the skirt or build into your deck! $4,495 - 2-pump system . Circ 8 4HP pump . 26 jets - All plumbing installed 8. leak tested in "Lucite" acrylic shell with fiberglass backing . "CTI" digital controls q Includes wood frame with cedar top, rail 8. cover 2000 CHEV CAVALIER 75;} -he.somreerMo_tih-'kttr--ttratti_ m*rit-am"vare2rt6tr'hoekrohere'sowdeittere, Toll free 1-866-349-7727 it)? Made by National Spa kit manufacturing Co Financing available. POLLOCK AND WILLIAMS PHARMACY 307 LANCASTER ST. W., 373 BRIDGE ST., KITCHENER WATERLOO 744-1 1 09 747-0320 Free parking at the door'. tlNitihMrl includes $200 chemical/filter starter kit £38,995