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Summer sun brings skeeters
Pass the bug repellent, please
By EUGENE L. TINKLEPAUGH, Staff Writer
With the warmer weather, area residents are expected to start feeling the sting of summer. And the culprit might not necessarily be the sun.
“Summer is the beginning of where we start to see mosquitoes and start receiving complaints,” said Stacey Harris, an environmental health supervisor for the Beaufort County Health Department.
Though the season doesn’t officially start until June 21, some mosquitoes are already out, about and feasting on flesh.
Mosquito problems get worse toward the end of August well into October, Harris said, but the department has already fielded some complaints.
Some years are worse than others, he added.
“It all depends on how much rain, how much water is standing around,” he said. “We have more problems in the fall, especially if it’s an active hurricane season.”
Harris said mosquitoes pose more problems than their reputation of being pesky critters.
“Mosquitoes are not necessarily just a nuisance,” he said. “From our standpoint, it’s a public health issue.”
Mosquitoes can carry West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis or Western Equine Encephalitis.
Last year, Harris said, a horse in Beaufort County tested positive for EEE. He said the area hasn’t had any cases of West Nile.
The department tests for these and other mosquito-borne diseases by using its two flocks of “sentinel chickens.” Blood samples are drawn every other week from these flocks and sent off for testing.
“It’ll show up if there’s any activity in the area of any of these kinds of diseases,” Harris said. “Each year, we come back with some positives.”
The health department actively campaigns to get information to the public that educates people about mosquito prevention and protection.
Roxeanne Holloman, the director of the health department, said that flyers had been disbursed to all the elementary schools in the county on steps students can take to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
The campaign, called “Be a skeeter defeater,” also educated students on the life cycles and breeding habitats of mosquitoes.
The flyers will be distributed to all the day cares as well, Holloman said.
She estimated about 4,800 children in the county will be solicited to join the ranks of other skeeter defeaters.
Besides its educational campaign, the health department operates a “complaint-driven spray” policy. This policy — which has been called “inefficient, at best” by Holloman — states that an area will be sprayed when a complaint is lodged.
There’s no definite monitoring and surveillance, Harris said.
“We’ve asked for that, but it would require adding a full-time position to the department,” he said.
Harris said the health department had a person who filled that position in the past, but it since has been eliminated from the department’s budget.
Since the position was taken away, the health department has asked the county for additional funding each year for the position and has been denied.
“Currently we don’t have the manpower for a well-rounded program,” Harris said.
The next best thing is to educate the public on how to prevent a problem by eliminating breeding grounds, Harris said. To do so, the first step is to empty any containers that collect water, such as old tires and bottles and unused swimming pools. Harris also said bird baths should be emptied out once a week.
“When we investigate the complaints, we find many times that the mosquitoes causing the problem are breeding in (the complainants) own yards,” Harris said.
“Eliminating breeding grounds can solve a lot of your own problems,” he added.
Mosquito Facts
An adult mosquito can live as long as five months.
It may take several months for a larva to develop to the adult stage in cold water. Eggs of floodwater mosquitoes may remain dormant for several years and hatch when they are covered with water.
An adult female mosquito consumes about 5-millionths of a liter in a single blood meal.
A mosquito can smell the carbon dioxide you exhale from about 60 to 75 feet away.
Mosquitoes can fly about 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.
A mosquito wing beats from 300 to 600 times per second.
Male mosquitoes find female mosquitoes by listening to the sound of their wings beating. The pitch of the female’s wings is what gives them away.
Most mosquitoes do not fly very far from their larval habitat, but the salt march mosquito migrates 75 to 100 miles over the course of its life.
Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others. It is not clear why, but it probably has something to do with the 300 odd chemicals produced by the skin.
Tick and Mosquito Awareness
Area residents can do the following to protect themselves from ticks and mosquitoes:
Apply insect repellent according to the label instructions.
Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants to cover your skin.
Check for ticks, including on your scalp, frequently.
To make your environment less tick-friendly, keep grass short and remove plants that attract wild animals like deer and rodents that carry ticks.
To make your environment less mosquito-friendly, remove any containers that hold water and make sure that screens and doors fit tightly.
For more information, contact Beaufort County Health Department, Environmental Health at 252-946-6048 or visit the Web site at www.bchd.net.
Source: Beaufort County Health Department
By EUGENE L. TINKLEPAUGH, Staff Writer
With the warmer weather, area residents are expected to start feeling the sting of summer. And the culprit might not necessarily be the sun.
“Summer is the beginning of where we start to see mosquitoes and start receiving complaints,” said Stacey Harris, an environmental health supervisor for the Beaufort County Health Department.
Though the season doesn’t officially start until June 21, some mosquitoes are already out, about and feasting on flesh.
Mosquito problems get worse toward the end of August well into October, Harris said, but the department has already fielded some complaints.
Some years are worse than others, he added.
“It all depends on how much rain, how much water is standing around,” he said. “We have more problems in the fall, especially if it’s an active hurricane season.”
Harris said mosquitoes pose more problems than their reputation of being pesky critters.
“Mosquitoes are not necessarily just a nuisance,” he said. “From our standpoint, it’s a public health issue.”
Mosquitoes can carry West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis or Western Equine Encephalitis.
Last year, Harris said, a horse in Beaufort County tested positive for EEE. He said the area hasn’t had any cases of West Nile.
The department tests for these and other mosquito-borne diseases by using its two flocks of “sentinel chickens.” Blood samples are drawn every other week from these flocks and sent off for testing.
“It’ll show up if there’s any activity in the area of any of these kinds of diseases,” Harris said. “Each year, we come back with some positives.”
The health department actively campaigns to get information to the public that educates people about mosquito prevention and protection.
Roxeanne Holloman, the director of the health department, said that flyers had been disbursed to all the elementary schools in the county on steps students can take to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
The campaign, called “Be a skeeter defeater,” also educated students on the life cycles and breeding habitats of mosquitoes.
The flyers will be distributed to all the day cares as well, Holloman said.
She estimated about 4,800 children in the county will be solicited to join the ranks of other skeeter defeaters.
Besides its educational campaign, the health department operates a “complaint-driven spray” policy. This policy — which has been called “inefficient, at best” by Holloman — states that an area will be sprayed when a complaint is lodged.
There’s no definite monitoring and surveillance, Harris said.
“We’ve asked for that, but it would require adding a full-time position to the department,” he said.
Harris said the health department had a person who filled that position in the past, but it since has been eliminated from the department’s budget.
Since the position was taken away, the health department has asked the county for additional funding each year for the position and has been denied.
“Currently we don’t have the manpower for a well-rounded program,” Harris said.
The next best thing is to educate the public on how to prevent a problem by eliminating breeding grounds, Harris said. To do so, the first step is to empty any containers that collect water, such as old tires and bottles and unused swimming pools. Harris also said bird baths should be emptied out once a week.
“When we investigate the complaints, we find many times that the mosquitoes causing the problem are breeding in (the complainants) own yards,” Harris said.
“Eliminating breeding grounds can solve a lot of your own problems,” he added.
Mosquito Facts
Tick and Mosquito Awareness
Area residents can do the following to protect themselves from ticks and mosquitoes:
For more information, contact Beaufort County Health Department, Environmental Health at 252-946-6048 or visit the Web site at www.bchd.net.
Source: Beaufort County Health Department
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