Due to the recent heavy rains, City of Corpus Christi Vector Control personnel are being inundated with requests from throughout the city for pest mosquito adulticide spraying.  Vector employees are responsible for a number of other key tasks besides mosquito spraying: from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM they are responsible for pesticide treatment of all city buildings, collecting and processing mosquitoes from the various traps throughout the city, and swarming bee eradication.

Vector Control can only spray for mosquitoes when it is not raining and the wind speed is low.   The pesticide dissipates quickly when it comes in contact with the ground, especially if there is any dew.  Even then, the fogger only kills the mosquitoes that are airborne at the time of the spraying, so it is not effective for any great period of time. Since the fog only kills the airborne mosquitoes, spraying only occurs during evening hours, usually between 7:00 PM and Midnight.  It is estimated that the fog only kills one third of the total mosquito population. The three Vector employees have been working 12 to 14 hour days seven days a week for over the past two weeks to try to keep up with this demand.

The areas of the city to be sprayed are determined by the number of mosquitoes found in any of eight traps spread throughout the city.  Vector Control Officers will spray the routes surrounding any trap that exceeds 50 mosquitoes.  The routes to be sprayed are determined by the number of mosquitoes caught in traps, not by the number of complaints coming into the city call center.  Currently all traps in the city are exceeding the 50 mosquito threshold, so Vector Officers are conducting a patterned approach to spraying across the entire city.  The routes to be sprayed are posted on the City Website daily under the Health Department Vector Control page: http://archive.cctexas.com/Health/MosquitoSchedule/MosquitoSchedSearch.cfm

Vector Control is asking for the public’s patience as they work to reduce the recent increase in pest mosquitoes.  As always, citizens are encouraged to take the following precautions to avoid being bitten:

• Use  an approved insect repellent every time you go outside and follow the instructions on the label. Approved repellents are those that contain DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
• Regularly  drain standing water, including water that collects in empty cans, tires,     buckets, clogged rain gutters and saucers under potted plants. Mosquitoes  breed in stagnant water.
• Wear  long sleeves and pants at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
• Use air conditioning or make sure there are screens on all doors and windows to keep mosquitoes from entering the home.