TAMPA, Fla. -- The CDC recently published some alarming figures, showing that diseases carried by ticks, fleas and -- perhaps most importantly to the Tampa Bay region -- mosquitoes have tripled over the last decade.
With more recent cases of the Zika virus, Hillsborough County Mosquito Control is on the cutting edge of what it might take to bring those disease numbers down.
“A lot of new technology has come out of the introduction of Zika here in the state of Florida. Even in the country,” said Donnie Hayes, director at Hillsborough County Mosquito Control.
In the past two years, the Zika virus has forced Mosquito Control to become far more innovative, more pro-active than reactive.
But in doing so, they’ve made huge strides against the same type of mosquito that carries other diseases.
“The Aedes Aegypti, which is the number one vector of Zika, is also your Dengue mosquito. Your yellow fever mosquito. And other diseases also,” said Hayes. “So, by targeting that habitat and looking for that mosquito, not only are we focusing on Zika, but other medically important diseases also.”
The county has come up with some high- and low-tech innovations in the last two years: for example, something as simple as a more effective bucket trap that catches 20-30 times more mosquitoes.
“It helps us to identify that this is where an issue is and this is where we need to really focus our attention,” said Hayes.
They’ve also launched a geo-tagging program in conjunction with USF, identifying chronic problem spots so they can kill the mosquito larvae, before they become biting, disease-carrying adults.
Such effective innovations are getting national attention. Hillsborough County Mosquito Control has been invited to make presentations recently at statewide and national mosquito control conferences.
“We have even had three different municipalities come and visit us here at Hillsborough County this winter looking at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and how they can take that back and utilize it within their programs,” said Hayes.
The county‘s latest anti-mosquito weapon was delivered just last week. It’s a monster truck that can get into those hard-to-reach marshy areas without getting stuck.
And there’s another big difference: Traditional single-nozzle fogger trucks kill flying mosquitoes. This new truck’s sprayer has eight nozzles, and the chemical is designed to kill larvae in standing water up to 300 feet away.
“If we can continue to control them at that level, then we don’t have to worry about them becoming adult mosquitoes and becoming that vector out there transmitting those diseases,” said Hayes.
Mosquito Control isn’t resting on his laurels. They continue to experiment with cutting-edge technology, including drones that can reach places these trucks simply can’t.
Look for deployment of those as early as next year.
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