Marion getting a jump on mosquito spraying

Marion getting a jump on mosquito spraying

Zika concerns raise priority for control of pesky pests

news@theeveningtimes.com

Marion is taking proactive steps to keep mosquitoes in check.

Road Department Supervisor Gordon Floyd told the city’s street and drainage committee that they have been out spraying and putting dunks around town in areas with standing water.

“We got an early jump on it this year,” Floyd said.

“We are spraying seven nights a week.”

Floyd said they are finishing out a chemical they have been using called Aqua Mist and are getting a new chemical that is going to be a little cheaper for the city but is heavier on Malathion.

Malathion is a chemical used to kill adult mosquitoes. Malathion is applied by a truck-mounted sprayer which dispenses fine aerosol droplets that stay aloft and kill mosquitoes on contact.

Floyd said city crews are also setting out mosquito dunks and will make those available to residents at the Water Department. A mosquito dunk is a donut shaped tablet that can be dropped into standing water and kills mosquito larvae.

The dunks last about 30 days.

“Right now we aren’t doing a whole lot of dunks because we’ve had so much rain,” Floyd said. “But when the water starts going down and everything starts drying up, we will be dropping them in to any culverts that we see. And our grass cutters have been throwing them in anywhere they see standing water.” The city is also continuing to pick up any discarded tires they hear about or come across.

Old tires are a major breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“We have been picking up tires,” Floyd said. “When I say that, nobody is putting out 10 or 15 tires at a time in their back yard. We’re talking one or two at a time. We’ve been taking them to the county and thus far we haven’t been charged to dispose of these tires.”

Floyd said with the additional threat of the Zika disease is it important to remain proactive about mosquito control.

Zika is a relatively new disease to the western hemisphere but has spread to countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed two cases of Zika in Arkansas.

Arkansas does have the kind of mosquitoes that carry Zika.

Symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain, and red itchy eyes. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for Zika virus.

Floyd said the city is getting more work from its city workers than it would if it contracted for mosquito control.

Marion decided against hiring Vector Disease Control

Inc. last year for

$38,000 for mosquito control services.

“We still feel like the work we are doing is more than if we paid contractors,” Floyd said. “They wouldn’t be picking up tires or putting out dunks. The would just drive through and that is it.”

By Mark Randall