Sussex County in midst of mosquito irruption

Confirming what anyone who has spent time outside recently already knows, Bill Meredith, Delaware’s mosquito control administrator, said this year’s rain has resulted in a mosquito irruption.

“One of the biggest ones I’ve ever scene,” said Meredith, who has been program administrator for 18 years.

For starters, he said there have been more complaints logged this year than any other year. “There have been years with greater numbers of mosquitos, but the number of complaints this year is definitely the worst,” he said June 13. “We’re getting attacked on both sides this year – freshwater mosquitos and saltwater mosquitos. At this point it’s a triage situation.”

Meredith said Delaware has received 2.5 to 3 times more rain than normal this year, and in the last two weeks, the state’s mosquito control division has received 1,800 complaints about mosquitos in Sussex County. As many as six people have been manning the phones, he said.

Last year, Meredith said, there were 1,600 complaints statewide by July 1. This year, they have already received over 2,000 complaints. “It’s been overwhelming,” he said. “There’s been a tremendous call for relief. It’s kept us running ragged.”

Every spring, Delaware sprays wooded wetlands across the state with insecticides to kill mosquito larvae. Meredith said this year, all the rain has rendered those efforts useless.

Meredith said the division has given up on killing mosquito larvae in standing bodies of water. Instead, he said, they’re coordinating their efforts to target large groups of adult mosquitos. Complaints are logged each day as they come in. Meredith said the information is tracked, which helps them decide where they should go next – including the same night.

Meredith said Delaware has 57 species of mosquito, 19 of which are problematic. He said at this point in the season, the biggest issue is quality of life because there are so many.

Meredith said mosquito-transmitted diseases like West Nile and Zika tend to peak in late summer. The state recently issued a press release asking for the public’s help to identify dead birds that might have contracted West Nile, but at this point none have been reported. He said Delaware has seen cases of Zika, but they all came from people who had traveled out of state and were returning.

Meredith said beginning July 1, the state will begin using its sentinel program, which uses caged chickens in 20 stations throughout the state, testing them for indicators of disease. “Usually that’s the best indication of mosquito-transmitted diseases,” he said.

Meredith said all the products used by the state to control mosquitos are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and used exactly as the label tells them. He said if all the conditions are adhered to, it limits the risk of harm to other insects.

“We go to great measures to not affect other insects as possible, but there will be some insects affected,” he said. “This is the approach we’ve used for decades, and we’re always looking for new products and constantly refining our approach to target only mosquitos.”

Related specifically to bees and insecticides, Meredith said the division and the Department of Agriculture have developed an elaborate series of protocols to keep nature’s pollinators out of harms way. There can be some effect on bees, but 99 percent of the time it really doesn’t turn out to be much of a problem. “We value bees,” he said.

Meredith implored people to make sure they empty any standing water near their homes. Anything older than four days is a breeding ground for mosquitos, he said.

For more information, call mosquito control’s main office at 302-739-9917. To report sick or dead birds, call mosquito control’s field offices between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Glasgow office’s number is 302-836-2555, which serves New Castle County and Kent County from Dover north. The Milford office’s number is 302-422-1512, serving the remainder of Kent County and Sussex County.

For more information about West Nile virus in horses, Eastern equine encephalitis, or vaccines, call the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Poultry and Animal Health Section at 800-282-8685 (Delaware only) or 302-698-4500.