August 13, 2008

• City wide activity remains a 2 this week due to the regional
  presence of West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
• We averaged .75 inches of rain last week.
• Figure 1 shows the average tiger mosquito trap counts each week. Tiger mosquito counts were down this week due to control efforts and cooler temperatures the first part of the week. Tiger mosquito counts do not normally peak until late August or early September.

• 1 CDC trap was set this week. The CDC trap placed at the landfill and caught 173 mosquitoes, only 54 were salt marsh mosquitoes. Counts were down 60% from last week.
• 5 OFP traps were set this week, 134 tiger mosquitoes were caught. The average number of tiger mosquitoes per trap was 27.
• We received several complaints this week about mosquitoes, all were caused by tiger mosquitoes. Several requested the city spray the back yards. The city does not spray on private property, we only treat from the city right of way.
• The crew continues to focus treatment efforts on storm drains. The storm drains are the major source of mosquitoes capable of transmitting West Nile Virus.
• 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.

• We occasionally get complaints about the trucks spraying for mosquitoes “not spraying anything”. The trucks are calibrated to spray a very fine mist with less than an ounce of pesticide per acre. The droplets in the spray cloud are very tiny and it only takes 1 or 2 drops to kill a mosquito.
• The spray has to come in direct contact with the mosquito to kill it. It normally takes 15 to 30 minutes to kill the mosquito once it comes in contact with the pesticide.