The budding of the trees and warming of the breezes are not only the welcome signs of spring, they are also warning signs of another pending arrival to our area.

Soon, in addition to putting back in our air conditioners and cleaning off our grills, we will be welcoming some hazardous visitors – the mosquitoes.

They have brought to us a part of the African homeland we could have done without – an illness called West Nile virus.

It causes inflammation of the brain and can lead to death.

Fourteen people, including a 73-year-old woman from St. Albans, were diagnosed with it last year. Seven people died from it citywide the year before. Most of the people affected were elderly but others who were younger showed signs of coming into contact with the disease.

After the last few years of spraying our streets with Malathion and Anvil and telling us these chemicals were safe, the city has now decided not to resume the campaign this time around, opting to educate residents about how to prevent spreading the disease.

Hmm, after two summers of aggressive use of these chemicals, state health officials have decided not to use them?

In at least one study conducted by the University of Vermont, overexposure to Malathion has been linked to what is called a "genotoxic effect." What it means is that the pesticide has the ability to damage genes on the DNA molecule.

According to the state’s own website, overexposure to Anvil can affect the central nervous system – the human electrical system that controls thousands of functions in the body.

One does not have to have a PhD to come to the conclusion that these are bad things.

The government told us we were safe, even though they have admitted that in certain portions or combinations there might be some risk of a health problem in "remote" cases. But if you are the person who develops a problem related to a chemically created complication, it doesn’t seem remote at all. On the other hand, if it is West Nile that we get, we would want to know why the powers that be didn’t do more.

I have to say that while I wasn’t in a panic about the spraying when they were doing it, I have to wonder why they stopped. I am not in the business of believing everything government officials say. Sometimes they are caught in a lie years later or they are caught off guard by what is often described as new information. That new information many times turns out to be old information they didn’t think was valid at the time.

In Southeast Queens, especially in the neighborhood of Rosedale, the last two years have not been pleasant when it comes to mosquitoes. You would think that one could at least go outside to enjoy the back yards they paid for. This year, most of us will not be able to enjoy the outdoors without some measure of caution, since the West Nile virus has not been ruled out for the area entirely.

With all the rain we are currently experiencing, there are things we should start getting into the habit of doing to minimize the chance of getting the illness.

Things you can to do minimize West Nile include:

• Disposal of cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots or any other containers that can hold water.

• Removal of discarded tires from your property or from nearby side streets.

• Drilling of holes in the bottoms of garbage and recycling containers so that water will drain out.

• Cleaning out of roof gutters and drains.

• Turning over of chairs, tables, or anything that allows water to stand.

While the city does not have a solid plan on how they will deal with the West Nile problem this year, state officials have said they will only recommend spraying if there is an "imminent risk to human health."

That risk would likely be created if one or more of us contract the disease.

So it seems that whatever we can do to not get it will reduce the chance of the government dumping more of that stuff on us.