The Buzz is a weekly summary
disseminate important information about mosquitoes and mosquito
control in the City of Portsmouth.
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A barrier application is made at Olive Branch. Blue
marker dye was added to the mix to ensure the applicator
makes a consistent application August 7, 2008.
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| Mosquito Activity (Scale from 0 to 5) |
- City wide activity remains a 2 this week due to the regional
presence of West Nile Virus and now Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
- We averaged 1.77 inches of rain last week with the storm that
moved through. The rain fall has been perfect for the increase in
tiger mosquitoes.
- Figure 1 shows the average tiger mosquito trap counts each week.
Tiger mosquito counts have reached their highest levels seen in the
past two years.
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| Surveillance and Control |
- 1 CDC trap was set this week. The CDC trap placed at the
landfill and caught 619 mosquitoes, only 168 were salt marsh
mosquitoes. Larval surveys this week indicate stable salt mash
mosquito populations.
- 5 OFP traps were set this week, 322 tiger mosquitoes were
caught. The average number of tiger mosquitoes per trap was 64, the
highest we have seen the past 2 years. The tiger mosquito counts are
predicted to increase.
- We received 2 complaints this week about mosquitoes, both were
caused by tiger mosquitoes. The relatively low number of calls might
be caused by people staying inside to avoid the high temperatures.
- The crew started the second round treating catch basins city
wide. Good conditions have allowed them to treat over 2,500 this
week.
- Crews truck fogged 9,658 acres this week, Route 9 is scheduled
to be sprayed tonight.
- Information on spray activities is posted on the Mosquito Spray
Hotline (393-8666 press 1 when prompted). Citizens can call and
listen to a recorded message to find out what areas are scheduled
for mosquito spraying.
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| Facts About Mosquito Control |
- Truck fogging is the main activity many people associate with
mosquito control. Truck fogging is one of the most expensive and
least effective actions used to control mosquitoes. It costs over
$1,500 to spray each route (9 total for the city), or $14,000 to
spray the entire city one time.
- Truck fogging is largely ineffective against tiger mosquitoes
due the large number of breeding sources. Any adult mosquitoes
killed with the truck spray are quickly replaced with new adult
mosquitoes (often with in a day or two). Our program targets the
source of the mosquitoes. If you eliminate the source, you eliminate
the mosquitoes.
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