CLEVELAND — Officials in Northeast Ohio are debating whether the West Nile virus or the pesticides used to kill disease-spreading mosquitoes pose a greater public health risk.

        With the approach of the virus' peak season, some cities have reversed their spraying policies.

        The West Nile virus first was found in Ohio last summer in birds and mosquitoes. No human case has been reported here, but 161 people have been infected since the virus first turned up in the United States in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eighteen people died, the CDC reported.

        Typical symptoms are flulike and relatively mild. However, the virus can cause encephalitis, a sometimes fatal inflammation of the brain. In Louisiana, 16 people developed encephalitis from the virus this month. None has died.

        Knowing this, cities in Northeast Ohio are debating the risks of spraying pesticides to help prevent the virus' spread, the Plain Dealer reported Saturday.

        Shaker Heights decided not to spray, even though it did last year.

        “It is just not clear whether it is effective or not,” said Dr. Scott Frank, the health director. City officials say they'll reconsider only if a human case of West Nile is diagnosed.

        At that point, said Dr. Cynthia Ann Taylor, a member of a Shaker Heights citizens committee that drafted the policy, “the scare would be that the encephalitis is more dangerous than the pesticide.”

        Lake County Health Commissioner Joel Lucia didn't want to wait for that case.

        “By lowering the adult mosquito population, we are lowering the probability that there will be a case,” he said.

        After infected mosquitoes were found in Willoughby Hills, Mr. Lucia persuaded council members to break the city's anti-spraying tradition and allow spraying for the first time since at least the 1970s.

        However, city residents can decide not to have their property sprayed.

        Other cities still are discussing their policies. The issue was debated this month at city council meetings in Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Beachwood and South Euclid.

        “The spraying doesn't work,” said Laurel Hopwood of the Northeast Ohio Sierra Club, who spoke at Cleveland Heights.

        “The big issue is: Should you spray just because there are mosquitoes and just because a mosquito has the virus? We say no. And the county says yes.”

        Opponents said there is no evidence that spraying reduces the mosquito population.

        They argue residents are more likely to suffer breathing problems and other side effects from the pesticides than they are to contract West Nile virus.

        So far, no community has asked the Cuyahoga County Health Department not to spray, said Terry Allan, the department's community health director.

        The chances of becoming seriously ill after being bitten by an infected mosquito are extremely small, the CDC said. Less than 1 percent of mosquitoes have the virus, and those usually don't bite humans. The risk of a bite increases in August and September when the mosquito population peaks.

        This year, health officials are treating standing water where mosquitoes lay eggs - a cheaper and more effective technique.

        Even so, most health departments also are spraying areas where mosquitoes thrive or test positive for the virus.

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