Pam Shands speaks out Sunday about county health officials disclosing little information about the recent death of Shands' father, James "Jim" Rodgers, due to the West Nile virus. (Ryan Harris/News-Sentinel)
West Nile virus victim's family angry at county, state officials
By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Last updated: Monday, Aug 15, 2005 - 07:00:16 am PDT
Family members remained angry Sunday at state and county authorities over the death of Acampo resident James "Jim" Rodgers.
"I'm very angry," said Pam Shands, one of Rodgers' two daughters. "He was healthy Saturday (Aug. 6). I shouldn't have to be worrying about my dad dying from a bug bite."
Pam Shands speaks out Sunday about county health officials disclosing little information about the recent death of Shands' father, James "Jim" Rodgers, due to the West Nile virus. (Ryan Harris/News-Sentinel)
Rodgers, 86, died four days later in what is being described as Northern California's first fatal case of the West Nile virus this year. He lived for about 30 years at Arbor Mobile Home Park on the eastern frontage road of Highway 99, just north of Woodbridge Road. Shands lives about three miles away on Peltier Road.
Rodgers appeared to be quite healthy until the afternoon of Aug. 6, when neighbors described him as "hallucinating." He was taken to Dameron Hospital in Stockton that night and died on Wednesday.
But Shands' family maintains that state and county officials aren't doing enough to combat the West Nile virus.
Authorities haven't publicized it enough to the community how deadly serious the disease is, nor have they done what they can to remove stagnant water, a favorite breeding ground for mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile, the Shands family said.
They also say that county officials were too secretive about Rodgers' death. The announcement issued by the county's West Nile Virus Task Force stated only that an elderly male from somewhere in San Joaquin County had died from complications of the West Nile virus. That could have been in Tracy, Escalon or Ripon.
Or Acampo, as it turned out to be.
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Dr. Karen Furst, the county's health officer, told the News-Sentinel on Friday that the information couldn't be disclosed for confidentiality reasons.
Nevertheless, the Shands maintain that county health officials should have alerted Arbor residents Wednesday night about the potential of the West Nile virus being in their backyard. Instead, mosquito abatement officials waited until Thursday night to discuss the virus with residents.
"Wouldn't you want to know Wednesday night?" Shands' husband, Dave Shands asked rhetorically.
Glen Taylor shows where he found a dead bird last week while his wife, Vi, watches. Glen Taylor reported the dead bird to the San Joaquin Mosquito and Vector Control District. A district employee told him there had been no reports of West Nile in the Acampo area, and to dispose of the bird and to contact the district if he hears of any other dead birds in the area, he said. (Mike Graffigna/News-Sentinel)
John Stroh, manager of the county mosquito abatement district, said after Thursday's meeting at the Arbor Mobile Home Park clubhouse that he couldn't discuss deaths related to the West Nile virus.
Information about any deaths caused by West Nile can only be answered by the county's public health department, Stroh said, but no such representatives attended the mobile home park meeting. The only issue Stroh said he was allowed to discuss that night was killing mosquitoes and how to avoid being bitten by one.
Dori Kiniry, Pam Shands' daughter is in town from Arizona to attend Rodgers' funeral. She said that authorities in the greater Phoenix area where she lives have been vigilant about killing mosquitos. They have sprayed once a year for the past three years in Arizona and have numerous signs posted reminding people about standing water, Kiniry said.
"We know all about it; it's a big deal in Arizona," Kiniry said. "California had plenty of time to know this was coming."
Arizona officials will even issue citations to residents who have stagnant water in their swimming pools, Kiniry said. On a complaint basis, she said, Arizona officials will fly over a pool to determine if it's stagnant.
Nevertheless, Dave Shands said he's seen stagnant water at several locations in the Lodi area this week. And his wife wondered if people at area nursing homes are susceptible to West Nile because of their compromised immune systems.
"I can't help my father, but I'd like to help somebody else (avoid contracting the virus)," Pam Shands said.
The public doesn't realize how painful a West Nile death can be, Pam Shands said. She found out first-hand with her father.
"It was a horrible, horrible death," Pam Shands said. "He was gasping for air for three days."
She said she wonders if Rodgers' death was California's fourth, as state officials maintain. Could deaths caused by pneumonia, meningitis and other diseases been a result of West Nile as well, Pam Shands asked.
"I don't want to be a drama queen, but we need to get (the facts) out there."
Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.
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