West Nile Virus, EEE, Mosquito Control

Homeowners Guide to Mosquito Control
Mosquito Protective Measures for your home and surroundings

HOMEOWNER TIPS

Personal Protective Measures:

• We recommend that anyone spending time outdoors take personal measures to protect against mosquitoes.
• Minimize outdoor activities at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
• If you must be outdoors, wear long sleeved shirts, long pants, shoes and socks. Tuck pant legs into socks. Clothing should be light colored, and made of tightly woven material that keeps mosquitoes away from the skin.
• Use mosquito netting when sleeping outdoors or in an unscreened structure and to protect babies when in playpens or carriages outdoors.
• Use mosquito repellent containing DEET, Follow label directions!
• Do not camp overnight near freshwater swamps where mosquitoes are most active. When camping in other areas, make sure your tent is equipped with mosquito netting.

Protective Measures for Property

• The best and most effective way to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home is to remove any standing water.
• Don’t let standing water collect around your home in items such as ditches, clogged rain gutters, old tires, cisterns, wheelbarrows, bird baths, used tires, flower pot dishes, hollow trees, children’s toys, buckets, discarded tin cans, recycling bins, playscapes, and wading pools.
• Any standing water should be drained!
• Repair any holes in screens and make sure they are tightly attached to all doors and windows.
• Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish such as predacious minnows. Water gardens are fashionable but become major mosquito producers if they are allowed to stagnate.
• Clean and chlorinate swimming pools that are not being used. A swimming pool that is left unattended can produce enough mosquitoes to result in a neighborhood-wide problem. Mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers!
• Use landscaping to eliminate standing water that collects on your property. Work with your neighbors to get rid of stagnant water on your properties.
• REMEMBER: IN MID-SUMMER TEMPERATURES, FEMALE MOSQUITOES WILL LAY EGGS THAT DEVELOP INTO MOSQUITOES IN ANY AMOUNT OF STANDING WATER THAT REMAINS MORE THAN A WEEK!!
• Stagnant water is mosquito breeding habitat!! Removing this water in and around your property can greatly reduce the potential for West Nile virus to become a significant human health threat!

Mosquito Control Products

• A number of safe and effective mosquito breeding prevention products are available at local home and garden centers, nurseries, and hardware stores.
• Mosquito eggs develop into larvae while in standing water. One common and effective method of treatment for small areas of water is using a “biorational” insecticide that will kill mosquito larvae, while leaving pets, plants, other aquatic organisms and people unharmed. The active ingredients in these products are commonly referred to as either BTI or BS. Both of these agents come under various names and come in several forms; pellets, granular, and briquets or “dunks”. The product remains effective in water for 30 days. Common trade names for these products are Bactimos and Vectobac. These products are not registered pesticides; meaning that they may be purchased in most local home and garden or hardware stores and do not require any license or certifications to apply them, however you should follow directions on the package.
• There are also products that are mosquito growth regulators. These products do not allow larval and pupal mosquito stages to develop into adult mosquitoes. They are applied to standing water and could remain effective for up to 150 days. The most common of these products is called Altosid. All growth regulator products are registered pesticides and must be applied by a licensed professional.
• Killing adult mosquitoes is a less desirable method of control, however, there are products on the market that can be effectively used. Two methods are using mosquito traps and spraying insecticide. Any product that kills or traps adult mosquitoes should be used according to the manufacturer’s directions.
• Effective adult mosquito trap devices will attract and kill adult mosquitoes using carbon dioxide and heat as an attractant. At least one other product masks the trigger that attracts mosquitoes to humans. (Please see the websites on the cover of this brochure for more detailed product information.) These products are somewhat expensive for the average homeowner.
• Another method for treating adult mosquitoes is to hire a certified pest control contractor to spray your yard. Since most sprays have a short residual, the timing of the spraying prior to any planned outdoor picnic or event is worth considering. Insecticide spray must come in physical contact with mosquitoes to be effective. Therefore, spraying should take place during the period of the day when mosquitoes are most active (usually dusk or dawn).
  
  Many types of mosquitoes could carry West Nile virus. However, health officials have identified the common house mosquito, Culex pipiens, as an important carrier of the West Nile virus. What makes the Culex mosquito important is that it breeds in the standing water areas around your home, and it commonly bites humans. This is the mosquito you are most likely to be bothered by.
  
  Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is a very rare but serious disease caused by a virus. The first symptoms are high fever, stiff neck, headache, and lack of energy. Encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, is the most dangerous symptom, which may result in coma or death: up to 50% of serious cases may die. Symptoms appear within 3 to 10 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. The virus is generally found in mosquitoes that do not bite humans, however, other mosquitoes may become infected that will bite humans, posing a serious risk. Horses are particularly susceptible to the virus. To date, EEE remains a rare occurrence, particularly in our region of the country.
  
  West Nile Virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne viral infection that can cause brain inflammation. Most people who are infected have no symptoms or may experience mild illness such as fever and headache, and fully recover. The elderly appear most susceptible, however, recent data shows this virus can also cause serious illness in healthy adults. WNV affects the central nervous system. At its most serious, it can cause permanent neurological damage and can be fatal. Symptoms, if any, generally occur 5-15 days following the bite of an infected mosquito.

Some companies and agencies with websites to explore mosquito control products and services and efforts are listed below:

March Biological, Sherwood Oregon www.marchbiological.com
Clarke Mosquito Control, Roselle, Ill. www.clarkemosquito.com
Mosquito Magnet www.mosquitomagnet.com
MKS-H mosquito killing system www.epar.mosquito.com
American Mosquito Control Assoc. www.mosquito.org
Northeastern Mosq. Control Assoc. www.nmca.org
CT Dept. of Environmental Prot. (DEP) www.dep.state.ct.us
CT Agricultural Exp. Station, (CAES) www.caes.state.ct.us
CT Dept of Public Health, (DPH) www.dph.state.ct.us
Nat. Centers for Disease Control, (CDC) www.cdc.gov
Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) www.epa.gov

East Shore Health District Mosquito Info Line: 481-4233 X6
Downloadable form: Request for Mosquito Habitat Evaluation