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Tuesday, June 24, 1997

Region abuzz with pest boom

AUSTIN (AP) - The heavy and seemingly nonstop rains drenching Central Texas have city and county health departments abuzz over mosquitos.

When it finally stops raining, the huge number of puddles left behind will warm up, stagnate and become incubators to millions of mosquito larvae across the region.

City and county health departments in the area are sending workers out on reconnaissance missions. They are looking for likely places for mosquitoes to lay their eggs and collecting samples of the larvae to determine what kinds of disease-bearing mosquitoes are zooming around.

"We do have in the Austin area species that carry disease," said Dan Pickens, spokesman for the Austin-Travis County Health Department.

Mosquitoes can spread malaria, dengue fever or hepatitis by biting an infected person and then transferring the poison to another person when they bite again. However, it is rare for a person who is infected with those diseases to be in this area, Pickens said.

State health officials are watching Mexico, because there are epidemics of dengue and typhoid fevers south of the border, he said. There have been some cases of those diseases along this side of the border. The officials think the fevers were brought in by infected travelers.

Encephalitis - swelling of the brain - is another concern. The mosquitoes get the germ that causes encephalitis after they bite certain kinds of birds and pass it to people, but "it's probably unlikely that we're going to have many cases of encephalitis, because we don't have a large bird population," said Pickens, referring to the disease-carrying fowl.

Health experts recommend using insect repellent containing an ingredient called DEET. But they warn that people should be careful not to put the repellent on children's hands or where it can irritate the eyes, nose or mouth.

The best offensive against mosquitoes is to get rid of their breeding places. Neighbors can best fight the mosquito war by joining forces. "They can lay hundreds of eggs in a teaspoon of water," Pickens said.

"It's going to take teaming up and going around the neighborhood to eliminate all standing water in flower pots, dog dishes, bird baths, rain gutters, anything that catches water, boats with covers, trash cans, beer cans, soda cans."

City and county workers sometimes put minnows into large pools of standing water so the fish can eat the mosquito larvae. Sometimes they give bacterial mosquito doughnuts, which slow the growth of the larvae, to property owners.

Some cities and counties are spraying insecticide to help control the pests.

"We use a mineral oil-based spray, like Dursban, which everybody uses for fire ants," said Dawn Montgomery, a dispatcher for the community-owned utility of Georgetown. "It's a spray, not a mist, and it dissipates quickly. It kills larvae and makes the adults sterile." Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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