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Mosquito control discusses prevention strategies

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Published  April 11, 2025 7:32pm EDT
Pinellas County
FOX 13 News

Mosquito control discusses prevention strategies

FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports.

The Brief

    • Pinellas County Mosquito Control is using chickens to test for mosquito-borne illnesses.
    • Florida's Mosquito Control Awareness week starts on Sunday.
    • Experts also recommend you keep CDC-recommended mosquito repellent in your hurricane preparedness kit. 

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. - Eggs are a hot commodity, and they’re not the only thing Pinellas County Mosquito Control’s 56 chickens provide.

"They’re our first line of defense," Austin Deal, an entomologist assistant with Pinellas County, said. "Like a first alert system."

The backstory:

The county tests the chickens’ blood once a week to see if they test positive for mosquito-borne illnesses.

"If it comes back [positive], we know we have that virus in the area and that lets us go out and control those populations before it spills over into human populations. Now, it does not hurt the chickens. They do not get sick from it. They are unable to spread it into our local birds. So, it's a win-win for us," he said.

Florida’s Mosquito Control Awareness week starts Sunday, kicking off the time of year when we start to see a rise in mosquito populations thanks to warmer temperatures and more rain. Experts, though, say mosquito season in Florida is, unfortunately, year-round. 

According to officials with Pinellas County Mosquito Control, 17 out of the 40 types of mosquito species in Pinellas are an issue when it comes to public health. All mosquitos need to breed is a bottlecap of water.

"Anything from buckets, to toys, to sitting debris, if there's any water accumulating over the course of three to five days, a mosquito can find it and lay its eggs to continue a life cycle," Caroline Scott, Senior Environmental Specialist with Pinellas County Mosquito Control and Vegetation Management, said. "So, try to find ways to dump that out," she said.

It’s a good idea to dump out any and all standing water around your home at least once a week, officials said.

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It’s also a good idea to use a CDC-recommended insect repellent, which includes bug spray with DEET, and wear light-colored, long sleeves and pants to help protect yourself too, experts said.

Pinellas County has 57 traps throughout the county that they check daily during the summer. They use the traps to identify mosquitoes, see how many there are and whether they’re an issue. If there’s an increase in mosquitoes, or a mosquito-borne disease that’s prevalent in the area, they may do overnight treatments," Scott said.

They also have a new helicopter that they use to pretreat large breeding grounds that’s four times more efficient compared to the old helicopter.

Scott said while they can’t predict if mosquitoes will be worse this year because of last year’s hurricanes, they do go into each season expecting mosquito breeding to occur.

"It is unpredictable what kind of season we might have with rainfall with potential storms, so we just like our residents to be wear and to prepare in case we do see something like that again," Scott said.

If you have an issue at your home and you’re a resident of Pinellas County, county crews will come out and take a look for free. You can call 727-464-7503. 

The county also has a free tire disposal event on April 19 from nine a.m. to one p.m. where residents of Pinellas County are able to dispose of up to 12 tires which are a known breeding ground for mosquitoes, Scott said.

What you can do:

Experts also recommend you keep CDC-recommended mosquito repellent in your hurricane preparedness kit. 

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