City of Portsmouth, Virginia - Public Works

THE BUZZ		Volume 4, 22 (Week 37)
		September 15, 2005

Mosquito Activity (Scale from 0 to 5)

Trap counts continue to remain low for our area. Complaint calls are also low. The only mosquito problems in the city are from Asian Tiger mosquitoes. Mosquito activity remains at a (2) for this week.

Surveillance

9 CDC style light traps were set this week, a total of 322 mosquitoes were caught, for an average of 36 per trap. Trap counts are about the same as last week.
7 Gravid traps were set this week, a total of 151 mosquitoes were caught, for an average of 21 per trap. Gravid trap counts increased from last week. To date no mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile Virus in the City of Portsmouth.

Service Requests

Control

No rainfall was recorded in the past week again.
Staff are prepared to treat any standing water produced by Hurricane Ophelia.
No truck fogging is scheduled for the rest of this week due to the high winds from Ophelia.

Special Note

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Virginia Department of Health have expanded their recommendations for mosquito repellants to include Picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus. With proper use insect repellants will prevent you from being bitten from mosquitoes. Please note these products do not kill the mosquitoes, they only repel mosquitoes. It is normal for the mosquitoes to keep flying around you when using these products.

Federal Activities

Trap counts on Craney Island have also been low, Corps and Navy mosquito activities are available at http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/Projects/Craney/craney.asp.
The Army Corps’ and Navy’s contractor is prepared to larvicide any areas that may need treated next week due to Ophelia.
Army Corps and City are also coordinating efforts to have aerial contractor treat dense vegetation on City and Corps property in Churchland. The elimination of the dense vegetation will help to further reduce the mosquito habitat.

Mosquito Trap Counts