New invasive mosquito pilot program launching in July
The sterile male mosquito pilot program aims to combat the spread of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, reduce mosquito populations, and protect residents' health. The program starts in July and runs through October.
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'Invasive mosquitoes have been spreading rapidly within our area,' said Luz Maria Robles, Public Information Officer for the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District. 'Over the last few years, we've definitely been picking more and more of them up in our traps. So we've been finding more adults as well as more immature mosquitoes in those small sources where they breed.'
The spread of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which was initially brought to California in a shipment of bamboo plants, is surging in Northern California. Allowing them to breed, stagnant pools of water. Flower pots, bird baths, and outdoor dog bowls, for example, can become breeding grounds for these pests.
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'A container as small as a bottle cap of water would be enough to breed these mosquitoes,' said Robles.
As populations of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes grow, so does the chance of contracting dangerous and even deadly diseases.
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'They pose a health threat for dengue, zika, and chikungunya,' Robles said. 'Now that we have these mosquitoes very well established in our area, we could see locally acquired cases of dengue.'
That's why the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District is launching this program. Robles said mosquito control staff will release sterile male mosquitoes twice a week in South Natomas once the program begins.
'We'll be releasing sterile males that have a bacteria called Wolbachia,' she said. 'When they mate with the wild females in the area, then their eggs won't hatch. So it's a way of reducing mosquito populations over time.'
These sterile male mosquitoes don't bite either, easing concerns for South Natomas residents already experiencing swarms of mosquitoes.
'You have to put up, like, you know, like shades, or you have to put up a curtain, you know what I mean? Like, so the mosquitoes don't get around or irritate you. It's a problem,' said area resident Jalen Garrison.
'Now I feel more safer with them combating, you know, what was just a nuisance like 3 or 4 years ago,' said Garrison.
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