July 16, 2007

• Trap counts were low this past week due to the dry conditions. Portions of Churchland received up to a half inch of rain, this could cause an increase in tiger mosquitoes over the next two weeks.
• Although mosquito trap counts are low the overall mosquito activity increases to a 2 this week due to the horse testing positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis in Suffolk.
• No mosquito samples have been sent for testing this year in Portsmouth due to the low trap counts, we have not trapped enough mosquitoes to send for testing this year.

• There is minimal standing water in the city and almost all areas are dry.
• 5 CDC style traps were set this week, with a total of 73 mosquitoes caught for an average of 15 per trap. CDC trap counts were lower than week before.
• 10 Omni-Directional Fay-Prince (OFP) were set this week, with a total of 71 tiger mosquitoes for an average of 7 per trap. Tiger mosquito counts were slightly lower this week.

• We had two service calls this week.

• While mosquito counts are low to prevent mosquito bites residents need to remember to use insect repellants. Any of the many commercially available products containing DEET, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or Picaridin have been proven effective and safe. Remember, even if we sprayed your neighborhood every night, we still would not be able to kill all the mosquitoes.