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economist sunsuntribune top stories of 2003 saturday jan 3 2004 west nile health care success story by usa queen staff writer its not often an issue tops the news because it fails to make much of an impact but thats what happened last year with west nile virus a potentially fatal disease passed on to people by mosquitoes after they feed on dead birds infected with the illness symptoms range from headaches and fever to swelling of the brain and death in rare cases more than anything else this became a story about what might have been what might have been if not for aggressive public education and a pesticide program that kept a lid on a potentially explo sive health crisis west nile was a success story said yorks associate med ical officer of health dr hanif kassam who spearheads the regions west nile strategy i think it has a lot to do with planning and working together with our municipalities we did a lot of proactive planning we did three or four cycles of larviciding to kill mos quito eggs thats not to say the virus didnt take its toll in york region in fact two residents were diagnosed with the illness both patients recovered meanwhile dead crows and colonies of mosquitoes infected with the illness were discovered across the region but its impact was minimal compared to other jurisdictions without strategies to contain the disease according to ecmaj the website for the canadian medical association journal west nile moved to western canada with a vengeance in 2003 almost half of the countrys 232 confirmed and probable cases were in saskatchewan and another 86 were in alberta at the same time dr kassam criticized ottawa for failing to implement a national program to fight west nile despite the regions ultimate success story last spring it appeared as if york was in dan ger of falling victim to west nile in april canadas first infect ed dead crow of 2003 was dis covered in newmarket the fact the crow was found months earlier in the year than expected threw a scare into medical experts they feared human cases would show up earlier and be more severe than in 2002 dr kassam said the region will have to maintain its vigilance again this year to ensure west nile remains under control i think well probably have a similar year next year to this year he said if we let our guard down thats when it will be an issue toronto 2760yongest 4164400244 newmarket 17480 yonge st 9058367618 markham 5328 hwy 7 east unit 3 90s 4714116 0ac on selected merchandise may not be combined with any other products oakville 166 south service rde 9058150123 wwwfitnesssourceca pickering 1755 pickering pkwy 905 4265700 selection may vary by store administration fee of 49 see store for details vaughan 3240 langstaff rrj 9056604888 file photo carrie hoffelner protests near a sales office for a development planned on the oak ridges moraine moraine battle moves to big picture bymikeadler staff writer four years ago the oak ridges moraine was the big picture few people could see things back then looked bleak for the landform source of all greater toronto area rivers desperate defenders were building support for a 2700acre kettle lakes park in richmond hill where the local council was ready to urbanize the moraine at the point where it crosses yonge street the towns planning commissioner told activists they should settle for a 1500acre park it turns out after one lengthy rollercoaster ride of expecta tions and disappointments they will get 1100 acres but the provinces proposed golden horseshoe greenbelt makes the big pic ture so much bigger than the moraine it also makes the stakes higher environmentalists hope the liberals will use what scientists know about natural areas to protect and connect the most important of these on the moraine with others beyond it some hope this protection extends along river watersheds north to lake simcoe and eastward from the moraine to another natural ridge run ning from algonquin park across the st lawrence river to the adirondack mountains the latter idea was born during the ontario municipal board hearing on the moraine in richmond hill and popularized by local biologist natalie helferty as the noah project obviously the moraine was the genesis of what were seeing now says josh matlow of the environmental group earthroots but mr matlow says if urban devel opment supported by extended high ways continues to leap across the moraine the greenbelt will fail in 2001 then municipal affairs min ister chris hodgson declared a 1000- acre park in richmond hill and pledged legislation would protect water flowing from the moraine south to lake ontario and north to lake simcoe but delight at hearing the province would restrict almost all moraine development to a designated 8 per cent of its lands turned to disgust for some whenit became clear 6600 homes would be approved at the richmond hill flashpoint for the conflict dalton mcguintys liberals cam paigned on the promise of stopping their construction but backtracked blocking only 900 its incredibly disappointing mr matlow says i just hope that some thing good can come from this the liberals for their part point out the 949 acres ready for development in richmond hill represent about two- tenths of 1 per cent of the moraine save the oak ridges moraine and the canadian environmental law association are hosting a work shop in king township jan 1 7 called hidden threats to our water exploring loose threads of the oak ridges moraine plan go to wwwstotmcoorg or call 9054803465