By James Clauson, Director, BMCD
Beach Mosquito Control District monitors mosquito activity throughout the year with a variety of methods. The District spans from the Hathaway Bridge on the east to the Walton County line on the west, south of the Intercoastal waterway. There are thousands of breeding areas (mosquito larvae need water to breed in) and we try to monitor and treat all of them, but sometimes we cannot. That is where you, the homeowner or visitor, come into play. If you are being bothered by mosquitoes, give us a call at (850) 233-5030 and we will respond that day. We also use that information to help determine where we perform nighttime ULV (ultra-low volume) spray operations. This targets the adult mosquito.
We, here at BMCD, pride ourselves on being one of the best and most innovative mosquito control districts in the State of Florida. There are 67 Counties in the State and currently 62 mosquito control districts. We use the latest technology to monitor and evaluate mosquitoes in the district. We utilize a series of traps and emergence containers to capture and identify – to a species – the mosquitoes we have in the district. Our lab staff of entomologists and biologists has the latest and most sophisticated equipment available to run tests on the mosquitoes to determine whether or not there is virus present in the mosquito population. They also monitor virus activity with sentinel chickens spaced throughout the district. BMCD owns and operates 3 chicken flocks (6 chickens per flock/coop). The mosquitoes feed on animals and that includes the avian population. If a mosquito has a virus (West Nile Virus or Eastern Equine Encephalitis, EEE) and bites one of the chickens, the chicken develops antibodies and that is in the blood sample we collect. Our chickens are sampled every Monday and the serum is sent to the Department of Health Lab in Tampa, Fl. We then get a report that Friday, and it shows positive or negative for the antibodies. We then use that information to adjust our control activities. By the way, the chickens are not hurt in any way.
As mentioned previously, we cannot be everywhere in the district. If the homeowner or visitor to our beautiful area notices mosquitoes bothering them, please call or email us or go to our webpage (www.pcbeachmosquito.org) and put in a service request. We rely on this information to help our technicians locate breeding areas as well as treat (spray) the adult mosquitoes. Remember, only the female mosquito takes a blood meal.
We can be reached at (850) 233-5030. Take a look at our website and you can put in a service request there. We are here to serve the taxpayers (and visitors) in our district!
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