It’s an exciting time for Mosquito Control! New control methods developed to fight this global pest are becoming more widespread. Curious about some of these new methods in mosquito control?
Good news! Our neighbor to the north, Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District (CMAD) tested one of these: Wolbachia Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). With help from Verily and MosquitoMate, CMAD released male mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia around some Clovis and Fresno neighborhoods. Because male mosquitoes don’t bite, releasing them doesn’t cause any harm to residents. These male mosquitoes mated with biting female mosquitoes. When female mosquitoes mate with a male carrying Wolbachia, their eggs are sterile. This means the eggs never hatched out to become biting adults! As a result, residents in those neighborhoods could enjoy their summer again.
Wolbachia SIT is just one of the new mosquito control methods that Delta Vector Control District is considering for the future. New methods are needed to control the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito. Also known as the Yellow Fever Mosquito, this mosquito is an aggressive day-biting mosquito that prefers to bite people and lays their eggs in small, man-made containers like potted plant trays and yard drains. Since these containers are difficult to find, it is difficult to control this mosquito.
You can read more about it here: Debug Blog: Three Great Years of Debug Fresno.
Or watch their videos about Wolbachia Sterile Male insects and the Debug Fresno program, below.