Community Corner

Mosquito-Breeding Areas to Get Aerial Treatment Wednesday

About 45 acres in and near Watsonville will be treated by helicopter.

A helicopter will be making the rounds Wednesday morning to drop mosquito-control granules to areas in and near Watsonville. 

Starting around 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 24 weather permitting, the Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control, or MVC, will treat 45 acres of land including portions of Pinto Lake, Watsonville Slough, Atkinson Pond, Amador pond, Sunset State Beach pond, Harkins Slough and Struve Slough. 

If wind or fog prevents the helicopter from making its rounds, the treatment will be rescheduled for Thursday, April 24. 

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According to MVC, the flight paths will be over underdeveloped areas and the treatment is of a "granular, microbial mosquito larvicide," so residents don't need to take special precautions during the treatment. 

You can read the full release from the Santa Cruz County Mosquito & Vector Control below:

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On Wednesday, April 24, 2013, starting at approximately 9:00 AM, weather permitting, the Santa Cruz County Mosquito & Vector Control (MVC) will apply mosquito control granules by helicopter to 45 acres in and near Watsonville: within portions of Pinto Lake, Watsonville Slough, Atkinson Pond, Amador pond, Sunset State Beach pond, Harkins Slough and Struve Slough.  The outcome of this treatment will be a reduction in the number of pestiferous mosquitoes that emerge from the shallows of those wetlands.  If the helicopter is unavailable or weather conditions prevent the application the treatment will be rescheduled for Thursday, April 25, 2013.  Treatments do not take long to complete so the helicopter will only be seen flying at low levels for a few minutes in any one area.  Please be aware this is a directed granular treatment and not aerial fogging or an air dispersed application. 

The mosquito control granules that will be applied are the biological microbials, Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) andBacillus sphaericus on corncob granules, and methoprene, a mosquito-specific growth regulator that mimics the larvae’s own juvenile hormone. These products are very selective; meaning they target immature mosquitoes (aquatic stages).  This application will prevent the emergence of adult mosquitoes and is not harmful to humans, birds, fish or other wildlife. By controlling mosquitoes in the larval stage, dispersal of adult mosquitoes into the community is minimized and the need to use less selective control measures such as fogging for adult mosquitoes is significantly reduced. 

These treatments are necessary because warm weather species of mosquitoes are hatching from aquatic larvae in significant numbers, particularly in the stagnant muck among dense vegetation.  A larval control effort provides relief from bites and is important for the prevention of mosquito-borne diseases, including West Nile virus. The targeted application of granules by helicopter is a proven method of controlling larvae, which we have successfully used 56 times since 1993. 

Since 2004 dead birds infected with West Nile virus have been found every year in Santa Cruz County. In 2012, California reported 479 human West Nile virus infections, all the result of bites from infected mosquitoes, nineteen of these people died.  

The MVC encourages residents to empty yard containers of standing water; wear long sleeved shirts, pants, socks with shoes and repellants when outside at dawn or dusk; place mosquitofish in ornamental ponds or non-maintained pools; inform us of mosquito breeding situations such as unmaintained swimming pools or ponds and of biting mosquitoes at 831-454-2590.  We also encourage reporting of dead birds and tree squirrels to the Department of Public Health - West Nile virus hotline, 1-877-WNV-BIRD, or website http://www.westnile.ca.gov/, as these reports can help locate West Nile virus activity.

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