By James Clauson, Director, Beach Mosquito Control District and President, Florida Mosquito Control Association
Beach Mosquito Control District (BMCD), of Panama City Beach, and the Florida Mosquito Control Association (FMCA), headquarters in Tallahassee, have had something in common this past year. The director of BMCD and the President of FMCA are one and the same. I am very proud to serve as the President of the FMCA as well as being the director of BMCD.
The FMCA is a 94-year-old organization that was started in Indian River County (Vero Beach) in 1925 to initiate support to fight the world’s deadliest animal, the mosquito. They say that “air conditioning and mosquito control made Florida habitable.” This is very true. There are 67 Counties in Florida and nearly all of them have some sort of organized governmental mosquito control program.
There are 2 types of governmental mosquito control programs, Independent Special Districts and County programs. The County programs fall under the Board of County Commissioners and the Independent Special Districts (BMCD is one of 15 in Fl.) have elected Commissioners (Boards). BMCD has 3 elected Commissioners that run every 4 years and coincide with Presidential Elections. Mosquito control in Florida is governed by chapter 388 of the Florida Statues and 5E-13 of the FAC (Florida Administrative Code).
BMCD was founded in 1953 by a group of citizens that lived in Panama City Beach. They petitioned the Bay County Board of Commissioners to allow them to tax themselves, enabling them to form Gulf Mosquito Control District. The name was changed to Beach Mosquito Control District in 1997 to eliminate confusion with Gulf County Mosquito Control. The district’s boundaries are west of Hathaway Bridge to the Walton County line, south of the Intercoastal Waterway. The district is funded exclusively by ad valorem taxes. The current millage rate is .3000, which is roughly 1/3 of a mill or .30 cents per $1000 valuation. Our location is 509 Griffin Blvd which is in the Beach Commerce Park.
BMCD uses an integrated approach to mosquito control. We incorporate the most modern, safe, and effective methodologies. Integrated mosquito management uses mosquito surveillance to drive control measures. BMCD uses 4 different mosquito trapping devices. We sort, count, and identify the mosquitoes we catch, twice a week. Certain mosquitoes transmit diseases so it is important to know what mosquito species we have in the district. Since we know the location of the traps and where certain mosquito species breed, we can identify those locations and safely treat the water for the larva before they emerge as a hungry adult mosquito. Only the female mosquitoes take a blood meal. They need this for egg production. Both male and females feed on nectar for energy. BMCD also uses sentinel chickens to identify mosquito borne diseases. We do this in cooperation with the Florida Department of Health by taking blood from our chickens in chicken coops once a week and sending it to the State Lab in Tampa and they can tell if a chicken has been bitten by an infected mosquito based on antibodies. The chickens are not harmed by the disease. Hence the name, sentinel chickens.
Lastly, we rely on the citizens in the district to call us if they are experiencing mosquito problems so we can respond quickly and effectively. Please visit our website at www.pcbeachmosquito.org or call us at (850) 233-5030.
