August 31, 2006

• This mosquito season is far from over. A combination of a cold front and tropical moisture from Ernesto will provide some much needed rain. Mosquito production is expected to increase significantly over the next few weeks as a direct result of the rain.
• The mosquito activity remains a 2 because of the presence of EEE and West Nile Virus in mosquitoes. Citizens should keep vigilant emptying out standing water around their houses and use insect repellant that contains DEET or Picaridin to prevent mosquito bites.

• 9 CDC style light traps were set this week, a total of 319 mosquitoes were caught, for an average of 37 per trap. Trap counts increased slightly from last week. Trap counts continue to remain low because of the lack of rainfall. Trap counts are forecast to increase over the next few weeks.
• 7 Gravid style traps were set this week, a total of 107 mosquitoes were caught, for an average of 15 per trap. Gravid trap counts were down 30% from last week.
• Staff will continue to submit mosquito pools for virus testing as needed for the remainder of the season.

• We received only 1 complaint call this week.

• Limited larvicide applications were made this week to catch basins.
• Staff are ready to start our all out larviciding efforts as soon as mosquitoes start showing up in roadside ditches early next week. With two crews, we should be able to treat the entire city in three days.
• Contract helicopter is tentatively schedule for the week of September 11th if needed.

• Hot dry conditions followed by cooler wet conditions are the perfect scenario to cause significant increases in mosquito populations. There are two major groups of mosquitoes (floodwater and semi-permanent) that tend to thrive in these conditions.
• Floodwater mosquitoes lay eggs on dry ground or leaves. The eggs can hatch several days or even years later when conditions are right for hatching.
• Semi-Permanent water mosquitoes lay eggs on the surface of water. Rain can increase the amount of water available for breeding. In addition the dry conditions cause a decrease in the number natural predators like mosquito fish and predatory insects that are available to feed on mosquito larvae.