May 8, 2008

• City wide activity is a 1.
•  We received close to 1 inch of rain last week. With the rain and above normal temperatures we are seeing early emergence of summer mosquitoes. We are in for a long season this year.

• 9 CDC style light traps were set this week, a total of 508 mosquitoes were caught. The average number of mosquitoes per trap was 56. The average per trap was up from last week but this was most likely due to the severe storms from last week battering the traps.
• We started spraying for adult mosquitoes this week treating just over 1,400 acres.
• Most of the water from last week has dried up. The crew focused efforts treating the storm drains and catch basins in the down town and old town this week.

• Complaint calls increased as expected this week. We have had 6 service requests this week, 5 out of the 6 were from the Churchland area of the city.
• Complaint calls should remain about the same or decrease next week.

• Staff continue to meet and coordinate activities; we are currently evaluating conditions and adjusting control strategies to provide the most effective results.

• The mosquito spray hotline is active. Citizens can call and listen to a recorded message to find out what areas are scheduled for mosquito spraying. The hotline is updated each day before 4 pm.
• We can not legally spray for adult mosquitoes when it is raining and or if winds are above 10 miles per hour.

• CDC has added IR3535 to the list of recommended insect repellants. IR3535 or Merck 3535 is classified as a “biopesticide repellent” and has been in use in Europe for over 20 years.
• This is a significant development as there are now four recommended insect repellents (DEET, Picaridin, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus or PMD, and IR3535). Many people do not use DEET complain about the smell and oily feeling they get when used, now there are more alternatives to choose from.
• For more information about repellent active ingredients see http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/ai_insectrp.htm