Local health departments are continuing their efforts to control the mosquito population in hopes of preventing the spread of viruses like West Nile.
Greene County Public Health officials sprayed insecticide at two locations Wednesday night: Grange Hall Road and Willowcrest Road in Beavercreek – and Dayton-Xenia Road and Shady Lane in Beavercreek Township.
Cecilia Grewe said she’s concerned about kids in her Beavercreek Township neighborhood getting bit by mosquitoes.
“There’s a lot of younger families on our block now,” Grewe said. “I know within four houses of my house, there’s at least six to eight young children under 5.”
She said that’s why she’s glad crews sprayed insecticide to control the mosquito population.
Some neighbors we spoke with said they’ve seen more mosquitoes lately and are taking precautions.
“I just make sure I don’t have water standing,” said Chris Mills, who lives in Beavercreek Township. “They can multiply in a little bucket, like thousands.”
According to officials with Greene County Public Health, it has been an average mosquito season so far. Greene County has trapped about 120 mosquitoes and hasn’t found any cases of West Nile virus so far this year, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Complaints about mosquitoes have increased, but those appear to be due to a different species of mosquito that prefers shady areas under trees with damp soils, according to Shadrick Adams, sanitarian for Greene County Public Health.
“These are the two areas that we’ve had a lot of complaints about and did a lot of trapping in,” said Jacqueline Gruza, another sanitarian for Greene County Public Health who helped spray insecticide Wednesday.
Earlier larvicide work has also appeared to make an impact, Adams said, with fewer mosquitoes being trapped in some areas.
“The neighbors are hopefully taking care of their standing water issues, gutters, bird baths, etc.,” Gruza said. “So that’ll help cut down on the adult population.”
Greene County Public Health will continue testing mosquitoes for West Nile virus and plan to notify the public immediately if they find any positive cases, Adams said.
