Miami-Dade County ready for upcoming mosquito season

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez was joined recently by Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade administrator Dr. Lillian Rivera for a briefing on the status of the county’s mosquito control efforts for 2017.

The key message and takeaway from the meeting was that Miami-Dade County is fully prepared and ready for Mosquito Season 2017, which is actually a year-round responsibility.

“Last year’s mosquito season was very busy, with the arrival of travel and locally acquired cases of Zika in Miami-Dade County. But we learned a great deal as a result of our response, and the success we experienced set the stage for this year’s efforts,” Mayor Gimenez said.

“I am confident that the ongoing mosquito control activities that we’ve been performing over the last several months, along with enhanced surveillance, treatment, new equipment and additional staffing, will allow us to have continued success against mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases in our community,” he added.

Following the county’s successful response to the 2016 Zika challenge, the Miami-Dade continues to proactively monitor and provide aggressive treatment in the four Zika transmission zones. While these areas were cleared as local transmission zones by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Florida Department of Health (FDOH), county and contracted inspectors continue to monitor the areas. Crews provide inspections, proactive and preventive larviciding treatments and application of pesticides to address adult mosquito activity.

An enhanced mosquito surveillance network that includes more than 130 traps in the previous Zika zones and throughout Miami-Dade County provides Mosquito Control staff with data on Salt Marsh and Aedes aegypti activity and counts. This information is used to determine when and where standard or enhanced mosquito treatment protocols will be employed.

In addition to the surveillance program, Mosquito Control staff continue to perform ground inspections, larvicide and adulticide applications throughout the county in response to citizen requests for mosquito inspections.

Mosquito Control management staff is working closely with the CDC, FDOH and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on its mosquito control efforts. The agencies have provided professional guidance and expertise, made available to the County traditional and innovative surveillance equipment for use in the field, and reviewed and analyzed the efficacy of the county’s mosquito control efforts in the face of Zika.

For more information about Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control program and tips for preparing for mosquito season, visit www.miamidade.gov/mosquito or call 3-1-1.


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