L.A. NEW EPICENTER OF W. NILE COUNTY CASES HIT 100; YARD-ENTRY LAW LIKELY.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

As Los Angeles County's 100th case of West Nile virus was confirmed Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors took steps to assert sweeping new powers to enter private property to eradicate mosquito-breeding spots.

With Los Angeles County cases surpassing those in San Bernardino County, previously hardest hit in the state, the supervisors directed lawyers, health authorities and the agricultural commissioner to draft an ordinance to let officials go onto private property anywhere in the county and clean up standing water in which mosquitoes can breed.

So far, 616 mosquito pools, including 209 in the county, have been reported in the state.

``This would allow them to go onto private property to correct a health nuisance,'' Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said about the measure for territory inside as well as outside Los Angeles city borders. Other cities also would be covered.

``It's going to be a cooperative effort between county officials and state vector control agencies.''

West Nile virus cases in the county were up 69 percent Tuesday from a week earlier - to the 100 total. That figure surpassed the 98 cases in San Bernardino County, which has had the most in the state and was up 29 percent from a week earlier.

Statewide, 277 human cases have been reported, up 46 percent from a week earlier.

Stagnant water has been cited as a key factor in the breeding of mosquitoes that transmit the virus from infected birds to humans.

The Board of Supervisors plans to vote on the ordinance Sept. 14.

``That's great,'' said Jack Hazelrigg, general manager of the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District. ``We need a tool in our toolbox to get people motivated to eliminate standing water on their property.''

Hazelrigg said some property owners refuse to allow his workers to enter to treat stagnant bodies of water, such as unmaintained swimming pools.

Vector control workers can obtain an inspection warrant from a judge to enter private property, but the process is time-consuming. Hazelrigg said the entry problem had not been ``significant enough'' so far to go to court.

Los Angeles city officials are drafting an ordinance that would allow them to fine people up to $1,000 for refusal to clean up stagnant water.

San Bernardino County officials on Tuesday confirmed that two more people died of the virus. They said both of them had pre-existing medical conditions that made them vulnerable to a neuroinvasive infection. Coroner's officials identified them as Merle Mills, 88, of Loma Linda and Julius Krick, 81, of San Bernardino.

That brings the total number of deaths in San Bernardino County to four, matching the death toll in Los Angeles County. Combined with the death of a 57-year-old Orange County man, those raise the statewide total to nine deaths.

Nearly 850 cases and 20 deaths have been reported nationwide this year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vector control officials continue to discuss whether to start spraying pesticides in targeted neighborhoods, particularly in the Van Nuys, Northridge and Pico Rivera areas, where clusters of human cases have been diagnosed.

Hazelrigg said intensified efforts to spray larvicides into sewers, storm drains and flood-control channels to kill mosquito larvae have been successful.

``They brought in some traps (Tuesday), and although they haven't had a chance to analyze them, qualitatively looking at them, it appears the numbers of mosquitoes are significantly lower than anticipated,'' Hazelrigg said.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County health officials said they are concerned about two cases of acute flaccid paralysis, a poliolike condition that leaves people partially paralyzed, which the officials say are linked to exposure to the West Nile virus.

Pico Rivera resident Nancy Berny, 43, said her husband, Mario Berny, 44, started getting sick more than two weeks ago and appeared to have suffered a stroke.

``Everything was shaking on his face, and he was walking crooked,'' she said.

``During the night, his arms became paralyzed. He went to the hospital, and he was having trouble breathing and swallowing. All of a sudden, everything started shutting down on him. He's been in intensive care ever since. He ended up with pneumonia and he's on a breathing tube.''

She said her husband is expected to make a complete recovery, but he will need rehabilitation.

Dr. Laurene Mascola, county public health director of the Acute Communicable Disease Control Program, said the poliolike condition can occur when people are bitten by infected mosquitoes, but it's rare. In Colorado, the epicenter of last year's outbreak, 32 people developed the condition.

``It's always concerning when people have illnesses that require substantial amounts of rehabilitative time,'' Mascola said.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

VIRUS HOTLINES

To report stagnant or standing water, call the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District at [phone] or the Los Angeles County West Vector Control District at [phone].

To report a dead bird, call the county health department at [phone].

For information on the DEET Education Program, call [phone] or log on to www.deetonline.org.

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VIRUS HOTLINES (see text)