Posted on: Thursday, September 5, 2002

Mice continue to plague Maui, Moloka'i

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

Health officials are continuing their battle against the state's growing population of mice as the number of cases of murine typhus has reached 19, including a newly reported victim on Moloka'i, the island's first case.

Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, said yesterday that the rising number of cases is not unexpected considering the large number of mice being trapped and the increased awareness of the disease.

Meanwhile, farmers on Maui and Moloka'i reported losing thousands of dollars worth of crops to mice, prompting Maui County to come to their aid.

The county has ordered 6,000 pounds of oats laced with rat poison for distribution among the farmers. The University of Hawai'i's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources is helping coordinate a crew of volunteer pesticide-certified farmers who are helping monitor the spread of zinc phosphide oats at farms operated by noncertified farmers.

"It's only being used on the borders, not in the middle of the fields,'' said Harold Keyser, Maui County administrator with the college's extension service.

Upcountry Maui farmers growing zucchini, green beans and tomatoes apparently are being the hardest hit, according to state agricultural officials.

At a recent Department of Health meeting in Kula, Maui, farmers told horror stories about mice wiping out their crops. Jerry Simpson said he lost six months of production on 8 acres of sweet corn.

Health officials, meanwhile, are focusing vector control efforts on residential areas in Kihei and Wailea, where murine typhus has struck hardest.

Eight cases have been reported in the South Maui area. O'ahu, Kaua'i and Moloka'i report one case each. There are eight other cases on Maui: two in Kula, two in Lahaina, two in Kahului and one each in Makawao and Wailuku.

Each of the victims had their illness onset between March and the first week of August and all have recovered.

Murine typhus is a bacterial infection transmitted by fleas from infected mice. Symptoms include fever, rash, body aches, nausea and vomiting and can be treated with antibiotics.

While 19 cases nearly doubles the previous statewide annual high in the last decade, Hawai'i endured 186 cases of murine typhus in 1944, Okubo noted.

This year's mouse boom — generated by a combination of rains and drought — has primarily affected rural areas on Maui, Kaua'i, Moloka'i and the Big Island.