The West Nile Virus has migrated to St. Mary Parish.

Two sentinel chickens, one at the Baldwin police station and one in Glencoe near La. 83, have tested positive for the virus.

Franklin Mayor Sam Jones said Glenn Stokes of Mosquito Control of New Iberia confirmed the presence of the virus Tuesday night.

Jones said he is, "very concerned about it," and urged residents to minimize their time outside at dusk and dawn, spray themselves with a repellant and wear protective clothing. He noted that Franklin is ahead of the game with regular mosquito control spraying and predicted the parish would adopt a similar spraying program. Franklin sprays four nights a week.

Baldwin Mayor Wayne Breaux said this morning that the town’s spraying efforts would be increased to twice a day, seven days a week. Informational flyers about the West Nile virus are available at city hall, he said.

"There’s no reason to panic," Breaux said. "The virus is seldom transferred to humans and Baldwin residents can be assured that the city will utilize all available resources," to fight the infestation until the threat has diminished, he said.

Henry "Bo" LaGrange, parish chief administrative officer, said this morning that the parish would begin spraying seven days a week from Louisa, up through Glencoe and across to the Franklin city limits. The parish will spray in the Baldwin city limits at night and the town of Baldwin will spray every morning.

LaGrange said aerial spraying was discussed but will not be implemented at this time but would be if the need arises.

A news release from St. Mary parish officials issued this morning stated, "The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine has confirmed that two sentinel chickens in St. Mary Parish cages tested positive for West Nile Virus yesterday. One sentinel chicken is located in Glencoe on Hwy. 83 and one sentinel chicken is in the Town of Baldwin. There are 16 sentinel flocks strategically placed throughout St. Mary Parish and none of the others have tested positive yet but they are being monitored continuously. We view this as a very serious situation because there are 32 human cases and a hundred or more horse cases and thousands of birds that are positive for West Nile Virus in Louisiana.

"In dealing with the problem in St. Mary we have stepped up surveillance throughout St. Mary Parish. We are prepared to begin a spray operation focusing on these two positive cases and standing ready if there is any further horse, bird or human cases of West Nile virus to expand spray operations.

"An environmentally safe insecticide will be used that is a synthetic pyrethroid named permethrin. It is approved by all state and federal agencies, including the World Health Organization. Spraying will be done following all state and federal guidelines at 15 MPH at dusk when mosquito activity is greatest.

"People should be on the alert for dead birds: hawks, blue jays, and crows. Call your local health unit, St. Mary Parish Offices (985-380-2441) or Mosquito Control Contractors (337-365-6995) for testing of birds. The public should take commonsense precautions of avoiding mosquito bites as much as possible. Avoid being outdoors at peak mosquito periods and use repellents containing DEET and long sleeves and pants that are light in color.

"Pyrethroid insecticides are considered 3rd generation insecticides that are the safest and have a short half-life of hours versus days or months for the older insecticides. Pyrethroids were designed and synthesized by chemists to mimic pyrethrum, the natural insecticide from the pyrethrum daisy grown in Africa and South America.

"A measured approach will be taken in response to the first two positive cases of West Nile virus ever reported in St. Mary Parish. We shall maintain a heightened alert and use whatever means of prevention and control is necessary to minimize the spread of West Nile virus in St. Mary," the statement concluded.

With 32 human cases of West Nile virus confirmed in Louisiana, health officials are cautioning people to protect themselves against what they call an epidemic.

The mosquito-borne virus is a suspect in the deaths of two people so far. One of the two dead people was among the 32 diagnosed with West Nile, but tests have not yet indicated whether the virus was the sole cause of death. The second victim was not among the 32 but could have contracted the disease.

It will be a few days before West Nile can be confirmed or ruled out as the cause of death in the two cases.

The 16 newest cases of West Nile in humans were confirmed over the weekend in areas of the state where the disease had already occurred in horses, birds, mosquitoes or other people: the parishes north of Lake Pontchartrain and east of the Mississippi River, and the Baton Rouge area.

"From dead bird reports, it looks certain that it’s not over, and the number of cases will go up," said Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state’s epidemiologist.

In New Orleans, city health director Dr. Kevin Stephens said Tuesday that the parish mosquito control program has been spraying more aggressively over the past two weeks. Officials confirmed recently that a horse in Algiers, on the west bank of the Mississippi River, was infected with West Nile.

"With the dead horse, it’s apparent that there are infected mosquitoes in the area," Stephens said.

However, no human cases have been reported in the New Orleans area.

In response to the four East Baton Rouge Parish cases, the mosquito control program there sprayed over the weekend in the areas where the victims live.

The latest numbers were released Monday in Mandeville at a news conference to announce plans for scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the Louisiana outbreak. It is the first large outbreak of West Nile encephalitis in the South.

"If this epidemic follows the pattern of last year’s St. Louis encephalitis outbreak, we’ll be here until October or November," said Roy Campbell, senior epidemiologist from the CDC. Campbell said a team of 12 CDC researchers will study this year’s West Nile epidemic.

West Nile is one of several viruses carried by mosquitoes that can cause encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain.

Nationwide, the virus has spread to 34 states so far this summer. The CDC has confirmed 161 U.S. cases, including 18 deaths, since the first Americans were diagnosed in 1999.