Saturday, August 20, 2011

Mosquitoes? Call 324-5547!

Lakeland residents with mosquito problems should call 324-5547 during regular business hours and ask for an Inspector to review possible sources of mosquitos. This is Vector Control (Vector Control means controlling pests such as mosquitos, rats etc) for the Shelby County Health Department and they will send an Inspector.

(Shelby County Vector Control Web Site is http://www.shelbycountytn.gov/index.aspx?NID=774). This has all contact information and a wealth of information about mosquito control.

After receiving a complaint about Mosquitoes and Mosquito control in Lakeland, I discussed this with Dr. Springer, who is in charge of the Shelby County Health Department. It was a very interesting conversation and Dr. Springer obviously is dedicated and I learned a lot about mosquitos in Shelby County.

Some items of interest to Lakeland residents are:

-There is a Vector Control crew working on the mosquito (and other pest) problems full time from March through October each year in the Lakeland/Arlington area. They treat sources of mosquitos and respond to complaints.

The primary method of controlling mosquitos is through eliminating or treating to kill mosquitos in stagnant water. Stagnant water is THE source of mosquitos.

-Lakeland has not been treated for mosquitos by the traditional truck spraying into the air this year. The reason for this is that the type of mosquito currently in Lakeland (I won't try to spell it) doesn't carry West Nile Virus and is not controlled by air spray.

-The West Nile Virus mosquitos are approaching the Lakeland area (apparently they move from west to east), so Lakeland is scheduled for air spraying within the next several weeks to control the type of mosquito that carries the West Nile Virus.

-If you have a mosquito, he urged residents to call 324-5547 and ask for an Inspector to review the problem. They frequently can find and eliminate the source.












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