Saturday, June 21, 2008

Are the pesky mosquitoes starting to bug you?

Steps to help keep the problem insects away this summer

Evelyn Cronce El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

The American Mosquito Control Association has declared the week of June 22-28 as National Mosquito Control Awareness Week 2008. Socorro County Vector Control officer Michael Jojola said he saw the announcement but has been too busy to do anything about it.

Jojola is required by the State of New Mexico to trap and freeze mosquitoes at certain intervals and send them to the state labs for testing.

The state reports so far this season have all been negative for West Nile Virus, Jojola said, and added that he has not received any reports of any cases of West Nile anywhere in the state.

"We're doing ok," Jojola said. "The hot weather keeps everything dry."

Jojola said most of the problems so far, have been in the southern part of the county near San Antonio, N.M. He is doing some spraying, but primarily he is putting larvacide into the bar ditches, or the run-off ditches near the irrigation ditches.

Jojola's job is to try and keep a handle on the mosquito problems in the county, as well as his job as director of the Solid Waste Department. To do this he used either spray or pellets, depending on the nature of the problem.

Mosquito problems are determined by Jojola investigating possible breeding sites as he looks for them around the county and by following up on phone calls from the public.

"If people are seeing lots of mosquitoes or if they can't even sit in their yards because of the mosquitoes they should call," he said.

The number for the Solid Waste Department and for Vector Control is the same. It is 575-838-0506.

"When people call, we go investigate, but they don't realize that sometimes they (the mosquitoes) are coming from as far as 10 miles away," he said.

Before Jojola treats an area, he has to perform certain procedures to show the area is, indeed, infested. A sample of the water is taken with a dipper and the number of larvae and pupae per dip has to be noted. Next, he is required to count the number of mosquitoes that land on him in one minute.

"If there are 10 or more, we usually consider the area infested. There have been times when I'm just covered in a minute," he said.

When spraying is necessary, "Biomist" is still being used. The active ingredients are permethrin and piperonyl butoxide. The quantity of chemical being used is 1.5 fluid ounces per acre. It is a cold fog treatment manufactured by Clarke Mosquito Control Products Inc., in Illinois.

Spraying is done in the early morning or evening when temperatures are cooler and when winds are less than 10 mph to keep the fog close to the ground and in the area being treated.

Now in its twelfth year, AMCA's "Mosquito Week" educates the general public about the significance of mosquitoes in their daily lives and the important service provided by mosquito control workers throughout the United States and worldwide.

Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other organism, with more than one million people dying from mosquito-borne diseases every year. Not only can mosquitoes carry diseases that afflict humans, they also transmit several diseases and parasites that dogs and horses are very susceptible to.

There are steps people can take to help prevent mosquito problems before they exist. The association suggests some steps people can take themselves to keep mosquitoes and other insects are taking a bite out of their summer fun.