The discovery of WNV- positive crows also led to spray programs in nearby Massachusetts and New Hampshire . Responses by northeast states have varied because of the volume of detections and political will. Maine has benefited from its cooler climate and distance from WNV hotspots. So far, the Maine state lab has been tooled to detect WNV in crows thanks to CDC funds and know-how. The BPC has offered to host a public information session before springtime as well.
Public input is important.
In answering this question, Maine citizens can expect from officials both a plan and especially a rationale for engaging WNV in 2001. The aphid-like insect feeds exclusively upon forest and landscape hemlock. Until recently, Maine officials had successfully excluded the pest through a mandatory quarantine program that inspected hemlock stocks imported from infested states. Shipments of untreated, infested hemlock have recently slipped through, however, with detections announced last August in the state's Midcoast region and most recently with finds in Bristol and Northeast Harbor . The extent of infestation in the latter two cases suggests the pest has established itself in Maine, possibly as early as 1996.