Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Friday, July 18, 2008

Girl's death 30 years ago today led to aggressive mosquito control

By TERRY RINDFLEISCH | La Crosse Tribune

Thirty years ago today, Dawn Lyn Torgerson, a 3-year-old girl from De Soto, Wis., died of La Crosse encephalitis, a disease of the central nervous system caused by the bite of an Aedes triseriatus mosquito.

She was last La Crosse area child to die of the mosquito-borne disease.

Dave Geske, La Crosse County mosquito control officer for 31 years, said the death prompted citizens to mobilize to get rid of mosquito breeding grounds, such as tires and open containers. And the La Crosse County Board authorized the county to develop a mosquito control program that eventually would take a multicounty approach.

“People need to remember this little girl,” Geske said. “She saved lives. Hundreds of people were spared from this trauma.”

Dawn Lyn was one of 50 encephalitis cases in the La Crosse area in 1978, a peak year for the disease. The average number of encephalitis cases was about 27 a year. Today, the La Crosse area averages five or six cases a year.

“Her death created enthusiasm and motivation to take the steps necessary to prevent the disease,” Geske said. “But we shouldn’t forget we’ve had some very close calls since her death.”

Most people didn’t know much about La Crosse encephalitis when Dawn Lyn contracted the disease. Neither did her parents, Gerald and Cheryl Torgerson. They had moved from Oregon, Wis., in 1977 to the family farm in a wooded area in rural De Soto.

“Nobody knew much about it. We didn’t,” Gerald Torgerson said this week.

“Looking back, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s not acceptable. It still bothers me. I think of her every day.”

Read more about this story in Saturday's Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com