PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Mosquito experts across the state will hold a virtual briefing Tuesday to talk about their efforts to stop mosquitoes from exploding in population.
Last week, officials told ABC Action News they were concerned following Hurricane Idalia because storm surge and standing water can create the perfect environment for them to breed.
Until this year, malaria hadn't been seen in Florida in 20 years. In mid-July, Sarasota County reported a total of seven locally acquired cases of the disease, and officials at that time said it would take about four to six weeks to kill off the mosquitoes with the virus and stop the spread.
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Now, two months later, officials are on high alert again.
"It's really important for us to monitor for mosquito-borne disease," said Adriane Rogers, the Executive Director for Pasco County Mosquito Control. "We have a program with chickens — we are actively monitoring every week just to see if we have virus in any particular area."
Rogers said they draw blood from those chickens weekly to test for different types of Encephalitis — a virus that causes inflammation in the brain and spinal cord.
Crews also spray a granular product into any standing water to help kill off mosquito larvae. Helicopters do this from the sky as well. Rogers said no habitat is too small — any type of container will do when it comes to the mosquito's ability to populate.
"Something as small as this bottle cap here left out in the rain or floodwaters for about three days to five days has the potential to breed mosquitoes. And there's actually some mosquito larvae in this bottle cap here," she said as she showed off a bottle cap with water and larvae.
Dengue fever and malaria are some of the diseases officials worry about, too. According to the Florida Department of Health, last week, between September 3 and the 9, there were no locally acquired cases of malaria, just the seven from over the summer.
The same goes for dengue fever, although 23 locally acquired cases have been reported this year so far. But Rogers said right now is when we could start to see mosquitoes that carry disease.
"Right after a major storm like we just had with Hurricane Idalia, it's the flood water mosquitoes that will see hatching off first," she said. "Those are the aggressive biters; they're a main nuisance. And then, about a week or two later, is when we will start to see our disease vector species really explode."
The virtual briefing is only open to the media and begins at 1 p.m.
