Hillsborough County teams share mosquito surveillance efforts to prevent malaria spread

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - There are now six reported cases of locally transmitted malaria reported in Sarasota County, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Manatee and Sarasota counties are currently under a mosquito-borne illness alert. While no other counties are under a similar alert, Hillsborough County teams continue their local surveillance of mosquitoes in the area.

"There are 40 different kinds of mosquitoes here in Hillsborough County. The ones that we’re more concerned about, there are six or seven of them, the ones that can carry and transmit disease," David Fiess, Manager of Mosquito Management Services, said.

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The field team regularly monitors breeding sites as well as 27 locations throughout the county where traps are set. Once those traps are collected, the mosquitoes are frozen, counted, and sorted.

"If they do find those, that type of mosquito in the water, what they're going to do is they're going to treat that water to kill it before it starts flying. It's a lot easier for us to manage these mosquitoes when they're in the water habitat than when they're flying around in the air," Fiess said.

There are also systems in place for treatment if there is a reported case.

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"If we do get some disease in the area or a suspected or confirmed case, or we have a high number, say, of the nuisance type of mosquitoes, then we're going to go out and respond at night and do some spraying at night to try to knock down the populations," Fiess said.

During the rainy season, they encourage residents to check their yards for places holding standing water where mosquitoes can breed.

"Anything that's holding a stagnant body of water, a bottle cap. These mosquitoes only need a fourth an inch of water to go through their life cycle," Fiess said.

Officials say it's also important to wear a bug repellant to avoid mosquito bites.