Fight against mosquitoes has already kicked off
It may be midwinter, but some counties are preparing for summer
Swatting at mosquitoes is the last thought on most Central Floridians’ minds in the middle of February. But not for local biologists and government officials.
This is the time of year when officials are busy preparing their annual mosquito-control programs before the tiny blood-sucking creatures start feasting on people’s arms and legs during the warm, muggy summer months and spreading viruses.
That work includes monitoring mosquito populations, particularly the two species — Aedes aeguypti and Aedes albopictus — that can transmit the viruses that cause Zika, dengue and chikungunya diseases.
County officials also have kickstarted public-education campaigns urging residents to dump water-filled outdoor pots and bird baths and eliminate other pools of stagnant water — such as stopped up gutters — around their homes that could serve as ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
“We’ve got our eyes on the ball,”
said Tom Breaud, interim manager for Orange County mosquito control division. “If we see increased mosquito populations — especially if they are vector [disease-carrying] mosquitoes — then we would respond very, very quickly. ….Sometimes people get the impression that at this time of year nothing is going on. But we have people out there every single day.”
It was nearly three years ago that all the buzz was about Zika, a virus often transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes and that can cause microcephaly, or shrunken head, in newborn children whose mothers were infected during pregnancy.
That led to a worldwide Zika scare in 2016, including in Florida, where 1,471 cases were reported that year.
Since then, the number of Zika cases has subsided, with only 105 total cases reported in the state last year, according to the Florida Department of Health. All but two of those were travel related. In Central Florida, Orange County saw 12 cases of Zika, Seminole had one case and Lake had none.
“There's an ebb and rise” with diseases spread by mosquitoes and that's likely what's currently going on with Zika, said Gloria Eby, an environmental scientist and director of Seminole County's mosquito-control program.
It's also important for local residents to prepare themselves when planning trips to areas with mosquito-borne diseases to prevent spreading the disease when they return. That includes, for example, getting vaccinated for yellow fever if traveling to Africa or South America, areas which are seeing an uptick in the number of cases of the disease, according to the World Health Organization. It also means covering yourself where there are mosquitoes.
“We don't want our clean mosquitoes biting an infected person,” Eby said.
The Florida Department of Health has also been providing funds to local counties to help purchase mosquito-control equipment — including traps, larvicide, microscopes and petri dishes — and hire temporary workers to set and retrieve traps.
Seminole County is set to receive $52,000, Orange County will get $41,000 and Lake County $35,000.
Although Orange and Seminole don't yet see a need to hire temporary workers based on current mosquito populations. Lake County plans to fill three positions.
“We've had a warm, wet winter so far. So we feel this season may be a little busier for us,” county spokeswoman Elisha Pappacoda said. “It's possible we'll see an increase in mosquito populations.”
When counties see a sharp rise in certain mosquito populations, or get word from state health officials that someone in their area may have contracted a mosquito-borne virus, county workers jump into action by going house to house to drain and cover anything that could hold water. Workers also then begin nightly fogging.
During Zika's peak in 2016 and 2017, Seminole and Orange each hired 10 fulltime positions to their mosquito-control operations. But so far this year officials have seen fewer types of mosquitoes that spread diseases such as chikungunya, dengue fever and Zika.
Counties also regularly use sentinel chickens to monitor for other viruses, such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
“At this point we don't need additional staff,” Breaud said. “But we always monitor for all viruses….we collect mosquitoes year round.”
In 2016, the Orange County Health Department deployed mosquitofish into several abandoned swimming pools that had turned green from misuse. As their name implies, the native Florida mosquitofish feed on the insects' larvae.
The program was such a success the health department is now working with the nonprofit United Global Outreach to establish a mosquitofish farm in Bithlo, where the fish will be raised and distributed to the public free of charge.
Eliminating mosquito breeding grounds is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of diseases, Breaud and other officials said.
“It's about being prudent,” Breaud said. “If you get rid of the [standing] water, you've gotten rid of the mosquito breeding grounds. …But it's difficult to get compliance. Some people have stopped up gutters, and so they don't even realize they're breeding mosquitoes.”