With the Zika virus a continued threat internationally and nationally, Wilmington City Council asked to hear from Delaware’s Department of Fish and Wildlife about what the city and state needs to know – and needs to do – to prevent mosquito-born diseases from spreading.
Tom Moran – with Delaware’s Mosquito Control Section – discussed the habitats where mosquitoes can thrive and breed: from potted plants, buckets and rain gutters to children’s toys, coolers, trash cans and tires.
Moran says the Asian Tiger mosquito – the type that could carry Zika – only needs about a bottle cap full of water to breed.
He’d like residents to help the department take a proactive approach to mosquito reduction, starting at the breeding source: emptying standing water in those buckets under the deck and children's swimming pools periodically - and after every rain.
“As a general rule we consider good nuisance mosquito control to be good disease prevention also – because if you just keep mosquito populations generally low, it equals less virus amplification and possibly transmission,” Moran said.
Councilman Bud Freel said residents need to take the time to check their yards for sources of standing water.
“I do have a bucket that I actually turn over so there’s not water sitting in it, and then he pointed out that on the rim of the bucket could collect water, and it’s such a small area that you wouldn’t think of it but when you think about how small a mosquito is then you can understand," Freel said.
While all of the Zika cases in Delaware have been travel cases – and not a result of the disease being transmitted locally by mosquitos – Moran says there’s always a concern that the Zika virus could morph and start to present itself in other types of mosquitos.
And unlike West Nile, the Zika virus prefers human hosts to animals - another concern.
Moran also hoped to ease what he calls unfounded fears about aerial pesticide spraying for mosquito control in Wilmington Thursday night.
Moran says the aerial spray hasn’t been done in the city yet because of pushback from Wilmington’s Public Works department - but has been widely used in the cities of New Castle and Delaware City without issue.
Moran says his department particularly concerned about the Southbridge area: a popular spot for the Asian tiger mosquito - which is closely linked to Zika and is becoming more prevalent locally.
“We had it in Delaware in the early 90s already and the population has just been building and establishing itself more and more," Moran said. "So it’s really becoming a – almost a No. 1 nuisance species just from a nuisance standpoint, let alone the role it might play in any mosquito disease transmission.”
Female mosquitos are the ones that carry disease, and Moran says anything over 25 females reported in the traps warrant spraying.
In the Southbridge area, there have been close to 1,000 female mosquitos reported in the traps each night.
Moran adds that aerial spraying – once approved - will ideally be done only on an as-needed basis. At worst, the pesticide could cause minor eye and throat irritation.
