OVERVIEW OFLCMCD
OPERATIONSFight the Bite
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Surveillance occurs daily at the Lee County MosquitoControl District. Aerial inspectors travel to the mostremote areas of the county via helicopter to check saltmarsh habitats for mosquito breeding. Ground andmarine inspectors look for breeding habitats throughoutthe county and respond to service requests fromcitizens. In addition, trap trucks go out each eveningduring peak mosquito season, surveying the entirecounty for adult mosquito activity and measuring rainfalllevels. The results of these surveys are used todetermine when and where to concentrate mosquitocontrol activities.
The District uses a variety of biological, mechanical, andchemical control techniques to reduce mosquitopopulations. Materials that are used to controlmosquito larvae are called larvicides, and materialsapplied to control adult mosquitoes are calledadulticides. All materials used to control mosquitoeshave been thoroughly tested as part of the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency registration processand are used according to the product label directions.Larvicides and adulticides are applied by ground or airusing highly sophisticated application technologyincluding satellite navigation and global positioning forprecision application targeting. Sterile Insect Technique(SIT) is also used to reduce the number of Aedes aegypti,a mosquito vector of several diseases.
Mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, denguefever, and yellow fever have plagued humans forthousands of years. Although organized mosquitocontrol in Florida has greatly reduced the incidence ofthese diseases, the threat remains for some mosquito-transmitted diseases including West Nile virus, easternequine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, malaria,dengue fever, Zika virus, and chikungunya virus.
The District monitors for arbovirus transmission activityusing mosquito pools from trap collections and byusing sentinel chicken flocks distributed around thecounty. When arbovirus transmission of significantthreat to human health is detected, that area of thecounty is thoroughly inspected and treated toeliminate mosquito activity.
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