Beautiful Weather Allows Mosquito Control to Cover More Ground
Oct. 21, 2011
Coleen Fitzsimmons (305) 292-7190
After hours: 906-1792
Beautiful Weather Allows Mosquito Control to Cover More Ground
Florida Keys Mosquito Control (FKMCD) staff rallied to eliminate standing water around homes and businesses throughout the Keys that accumulated during heavy rains last week. Since the rain ended this week in Key West, over 975 addresses were targeted by inspectors in an initial response to developing mosquitoes. These properties are in the "Fantasy Fest Zone" of Simonton, Duval and Whitehead and all the blocks in between. In the last three days, over 585 of these addresses has an alley or yard accessible by foot and inspected for mosquitoes, with 4 out 5 of those properties being sprayed for mosquitoes this week, which was much more ground covered than originally expected by FKMCD. Beautiful weather allowed inspectors to spend time dumping water and spraying for mosquitoes on these properties.
Aerial larviciding missions via helicopter over Key West were also moved up from Friday, Oct. 28th to Tuesday, Oct 25th to assure mosquitoes would not be emerging later in the week around homes and businesses. In addition, FKMCD aerially treated over 2,000 acres of water in low-lying areas throughout the Keys.
FKMCD is pleased to report no cases of dengue in the Keys this year and would like residents and visitors to know that they take their job of protecting public health very seriously.
Controlling dengue and mosquitoes is a collective effort among homeowners, Mosquito Control and the Monroe County Health Department. Our community must not wait for Mosquito Control to dump their water. It's an impossible task without support from property owners. The most common breeding sites for mosquitoes are the places that hold water around your home like plastic containers, plant trivets, buckets, recycle bins, coolers, tarps, flowerpots, fountains, garbage cans, untreated spas and pools, birdbaths and tires. Please make sure these places are emptied of water twice a week.
Please call Florida Keys Mosquito Control (292-7190) when the mosquitoes become active as we rely on service requests, landing rate counts, traps and rain data to help guide our efforts.
