Town Takes On Mosquitoes Where They Breed

By Steve Bigham

Town highway crews traveled the streets of town late last week dropping donut-shaped larvicide into catch basins in an effort to stop the spread of mosquitoes during the months of August and September. The mosquito-killing mission is a preventative measure against the West Nile Virus, which has been detected in lower Fairfield County and Brewster, New York.

According to Health District Director Mark Cooper, catch basins along roadways are notorious breeding areas for mosquitoes. Also, the catch basins are connected to most of the local brooks, streams, and ponds. The hope is that the larvicide will spread to these areas as well.

“This is truly precautionary. There is no evidence of the West Nile Virus [in Newtown],” Mr Cooper said last week. “We are attempting to head off the next brood of mosquitoes at the pass. We’re attempting to reduce the mosquito population for August and September, which is a more critical time for us.”

Among other reasons, children heading back to school are at risk of being bitten as they wait for the school bus.

Last year, traces of the West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis were discovered for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in and around New York City where six people died during the late summer months. It was also found in two species of mosquitoes trapped in Greenwich and in the brain tissue of many crows in coastal Connecticut from Greenwich to Madison.

The West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne viral infection that can cause inflammation of the brain. It is named after the West Nile district of Uganda where the virus was first isolated in 1937. The elderly are most susceptible to this virus. West Nile is spread to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. A mosquito is infected by biting a bird that carries the virus.

“If it begins to move in this year, we will have been ahead of the game and there will be fewer mosquitoes to act as the vector to humans,” Mr Cooper said.

Unlike the sprays used in lower Fairfield County and Westchester County, the donut-shaped larvicide is non-chemical. According to Mr Cooper, the donuts are made up of a natural bacteria, which, when dissolved, are eaten by mosquito larvae. In time, the bacteria succeed in breaking down the larvae’s intestinal wall, killing it.

The larvicides were provided to the town under a $9,000 grant from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Statistics gathered by the Connecticut DEP offer more evidence that residents should not panic about West Nile-like encephalitis. The likelihood of being bitten by an infected mosquito is quite rare, according to information supplied by the DEP. Only about 1 in 1,000 mosquitoes are infected, so even if a person living in an area where West Nile-like virus has been reported is bitten, “They are not likely to get sick,” said Michele Sullivan, DEP Communications Director.

Dr Theodore Andreadis, chief medical entomologist for the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, heads up the state’s efforts to monitor mosquitoes. Throughout Connecticut, state entomologists are putting up mosquito trapping stations in an effort to find out what is out there. This year, state workers are monitoring a trap in the Dodgingtown section of town.

Mr Cooper is urging residents to eliminate any stagnant water around their homes and to use bug repellants when engaged in outdoor activities.