Mitch Landrieu: “as you know, the State of Louisiana, along with many other States, has for the past several months been under siege. The…”

“as you know, the State of Louisiana, along with many other States, has for the past several months been under siege. The enemy is small, but powerful, and great in number. Hard to detect, they sneak up on you and with one attack, they can change your life forever. To date, 10 Louisianans have lost their lives in our war against mosquitos and the West Nile virus that they carry and 222 more have been injured. In Baton Rouge, our State capital, 42 people have been reported to have been infected with the disease and three have died. Only Illinois, with 292 human cases and 11 deaths, has experienced more casualties from the virus than Louisiana. I am here this morning to introduce legislation that asks for Federal assistance for States to "M.A.S.H." out this predator and stop the spread of this disease. Throughout the history of Louisiana, spraying for mosquitos and dredging the water they breed in has been a common occurrence. Until now, however, it was done because mosquitos were pests and they could carry deadly germs. Now, our State and local officials are spraying around the clock in a desperate race to control the worst outbreak of West Nile the Western hemisphere has ever seen. There is no specific treatment for West Nile, nor a vaccine. The most effective way to protect our citizens against this deadly virus is to stop it before it happens. I think that is clear that there is an urgent need for this bill to become law.”