MOSQUITO BANDITO - Valley washes cleared to curb mosquitoes that could carry West Nile virus

Hoping to battle West Nile virus carrying mosquitos in the San Fernando Valley, county crews today began removing vegetation from the Bell Creek debris basin in West Hills.
Unclogging Bell Creek, a tributary of the Los Angeles River, is just the latest effort to eliminate mosquito-friendly places across the San Fernando Valley.
On Monday, crews finished digging a channel in the Limekiln debris basin in Chatsworth, and other crews started clearing the "Woodley Drain" in Van Nuys last week.
In Panorama City, crews were filling parts of the bed of the Pacoima Wash to level it and improve water flow. An operation to clear excessive growth wrapped up Aug. 18.
The Pacoima Wash, which runs out of Limekiln Canyon, was the source of 17 of 19 West Nile samples collected this month, county public health officials said.
Four human cases of the virus have been confirmed in Los Angeles County this year. The virus is spread to humans from infected mosquitoes. The blood- sipping parasites get infected by feeding on diseased birds. So far, no evidence has shown that the virus can spread by person-to-person contact.