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Aerial spraying to combat Ike-driven mosquito influx
By NANCY FLAKE
The state of Texas began an air war in Montgomery County this past weekend against one of Hurricane Ike’s worst after-effects: swarms of millions of mosquitoes.
Specially equipped twin-turbine King Air planes from Clarke Mosquito Control and Dynamic Aviation flew along the Interstate 45 corridor this past weekend, releasing the insecticide Dibrome, said Becky Cottingham, director of mosquito abatement for Precinct 3.
Dibrome kills mosquitoes on contact, Cottingham said, and residents were advised to be indoors during spraying.
Dibrome is an Environmental Protection Agency-approved insecticide and will be used at an application rate of 0.66 ounces per acre, a DSHS press release stated. The EPA advises that Dibrome can be used for public health mosquito control programs without posing unreasonable risks to the general population when applied according to directions.
“It’s been used down in the (Rio Grande) Valley with great success,” said Cottingham, who is helping coordinate the effort.
She did not know of any possible long-term health effects but said the insecticide biodegrades within 36 hours.
Because the state is initiating the spraying, Montgomery County will not incur any costs, she said. Other targeted counties are Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Newton and Orange.
Montgomery County’s southeast area between I-45 and U.S. 59 also will be sprayed, but no dates have been scheduled yet, said Mike Lindsey, assistant director of the county’s Environmental Health Services.
“I think that there might be some problems with marsh and costal varieties of mosquitoes that blew into the area,” Lindsey said.
The increase comes toward the end of West Nile Virus season, and Lindsey said residents in the area aren’t at an increased risk of contracting the virus form the new mosquitoes.
“These are species that are usually found in marshes,” he said. “They’re very aggressive, but they’re not usually associated with West Nile Virus.”
Lindsey said he also expects the cold front that came into the area over the weekend will put a dent in the mosquito population as well.
In the meantime, Lindsey said he encourages residents to continue to take the same precautions they normally would for mosquitoes – searing DEET repellent and protective clothing, and making sure water isn’t left standing in buckets or other areas around their homes and allowing mosquitoes to breed.
Montgomery County Environmental Health Services employees conducted “landing” tests this past week to determine how large the population increase is, and exactly what species of mosquitoes they are.
That information led to the aerial spraying.
Truck-based spraying, which occurs every summer, has continued since Ike swept through the county, county commissioners said.
“We’ve got contract sprayers out every evening,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said. “We have one truck spraying, and it takes four days to make a complete round of the roads.
“Normally, we’re slowing down at this time of year. But there’s a tremendous number of mosquitoes.”
Precinct 3 has two trucks running nightly and in the early mornings, Commissioner Ed Chance said. A third truck is spraying underground storm sewers.
Spraying also takes place every night throughout Precinct 1, Commissioner Mike Meador said.
“We can’t spray every subdivision every day,” he said. “They’re on a schedule.”
The trucks normally spray each area in Precinct 1 once a month, Meador said, “so it’s increased spraying.
“Still, it’s not going to kill all the mosquitoes.”
Two trucks in Precinct 4 are running 16-18 hours a day, Commissioner Ed Rinehart said.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said of the newly arrived coastal mosquitoes. “We had very few complaints before the storm, but these suckers are huge.
“We’re just going to keep spraying. We’re doing everything we can.”
The insecticide sprayed by the trucks is in the phosphorothloate grouping, Cottingham said, and it kills mosquito larvae.
“We changed the formula this year because the mosquitoes became resistant,” she said. “If people see the trucks coming, they should go in for 30 minutes, but that’s more for peace of mind unless a person is really chemically sensitive.”
Residents can help fight the airborne visitors.
“We can’t stress enough that people should continue to eliminate standing water,” she said. “When they’re outside, they should wear repellent and loose, light-colored clothing with long sleeves and long pants.
“These coastal mosquitoes are not disease carrying, but they’re impeding people’s ability to recover from the hurricane.”
The Villager reporter Jake Muonio contributed to this story.
Specially equipped twin-turbine King Air planes from Clarke Mosquito Control and Dynamic Aviation flew along the Interstate 45 corridor this past weekend, releasing the insecticide Dibrome, said Becky Cottingham, director of mosquito abatement for Precinct 3.
Dibrome kills mosquitoes on contact, Cottingham said, and residents were advised to be indoors during spraying.
Dibrome is an Environmental Protection Agency-approved insecticide and will be used at an application rate of 0.66 ounces per acre, a DSHS press release stated. The EPA advises that Dibrome can be used for public health mosquito control programs without posing unreasonable risks to the general population when applied according to directions.
“It’s been used down in the (Rio Grande) Valley with great success,” said Cottingham, who is helping coordinate the effort.
She did not know of any possible long-term health effects but said the insecticide biodegrades within 36 hours.
Because the state is initiating the spraying, Montgomery County will not incur any costs, she said. Other targeted counties are Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Newton and Orange.
Montgomery County’s southeast area between I-45 and U.S. 59 also will be sprayed, but no dates have been scheduled yet, said Mike Lindsey, assistant director of the county’s Environmental Health Services.
“I think that there might be some problems with marsh and costal varieties of mosquitoes that blew into the area,” Lindsey said.
The increase comes toward the end of West Nile Virus season, and Lindsey said residents in the area aren’t at an increased risk of contracting the virus form the new mosquitoes.
“These are species that are usually found in marshes,” he said. “They’re very aggressive, but they’re not usually associated with West Nile Virus.”
Lindsey said he also expects the cold front that came into the area over the weekend will put a dent in the mosquito population as well.
In the meantime, Lindsey said he encourages residents to continue to take the same precautions they normally would for mosquitoes – searing DEET repellent and protective clothing, and making sure water isn’t left standing in buckets or other areas around their homes and allowing mosquitoes to breed.
Montgomery County Environmental Health Services employees conducted “landing” tests this past week to determine how large the population increase is, and exactly what species of mosquitoes they are.
That information led to the aerial spraying.
Truck-based spraying, which occurs every summer, has continued since Ike swept through the county, county commissioners said.
“We’ve got contract sprayers out every evening,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said. “We have one truck spraying, and it takes four days to make a complete round of the roads.
“Normally, we’re slowing down at this time of year. But there’s a tremendous number of mosquitoes.”
Precinct 3 has two trucks running nightly and in the early mornings, Commissioner Ed Chance said. A third truck is spraying underground storm sewers.
Spraying also takes place every night throughout Precinct 1, Commissioner Mike Meador said.
“We can’t spray every subdivision every day,” he said. “They’re on a schedule.”
The trucks normally spray each area in Precinct 1 once a month, Meador said, “so it’s increased spraying.
“Still, it’s not going to kill all the mosquitoes.”
Two trucks in Precinct 4 are running 16-18 hours a day, Commissioner Ed Rinehart said.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said of the newly arrived coastal mosquitoes. “We had very few complaints before the storm, but these suckers are huge.
“We’re just going to keep spraying. We’re doing everything we can.”
The insecticide sprayed by the trucks is in the phosphorothloate grouping, Cottingham said, and it kills mosquito larvae.
“We changed the formula this year because the mosquitoes became resistant,” she said. “If people see the trucks coming, they should go in for 30 minutes, but that’s more for peace of mind unless a person is really chemically sensitive.”
Residents can help fight the airborne visitors.
“We can’t stress enough that people should continue to eliminate standing water,” she said. “When they’re outside, they should wear repellent and loose, light-colored clothing with long sleeves and long pants.
“These coastal mosquitoes are not disease carrying, but they’re impeding people’s ability to recover from the hurricane.”
The Villager reporter Jake Muonio contributed to this story.
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