Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control offers tips for the fall

The start of autumn signals a few changes: daylight begins to fade a little earlier and the sweltering heat of a South Florida summer begins to recede. One thing that does not go away entirely is the threat of mosquitoes and their annoying and potentially dangerous bites. Miami-Dade County remains under a mosquito-borne illness alert with both West Nile Virus and dengue virus making the rounds, thanks to these winged pests.

“Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control Division is fully-funded and operates on a year-round basis, meaning the efforts to surveil, trap, inspect for, and suppress mosquito populations march on,” says Division Director Dr. William Petrie. “Our staff will continue to monitor the more than 180 mosquito traps set throughout Miami-Dade, analyze and record the data culled from these efforts, fulfill resident requests for inspections, and use a variety of methods to treat and control the threats we become aware of.”

In other words, Mosquito Control doesn’t take a season off, fly south for the winter, or otherwise scale back because of the change in weather. In fact, Miami-Dade County’s rainy season still has about a month more to go, meaning the rains that mosquitoes depend on to breed will be around for some time longer.

Here are some tips to help you Fight The Bite and stay illness-free:

• Eliminate standing water around your home to prevent mosquito breeding
• Get rid of items in your yard that could collect rain or irrigation water
• Use an EPA-registered repellent to prevent bites
• Cover exposed skin with long-sleeved shirts, pants, socks and hats
• Use the larvicide Bti in dunk form for fountains, and granule form in bromeliads
• Refresh / replace the water in outdoor pet dishes and birdbaths weekly
• Cover windows, doors and porches with fine mesh screening, cribs with mosquito netting
• Periodically ensure that rain gutters are not clogged

Report mosquito nuisance issues and request an inspection of your property online by clicking 311Direct or using the Miami-Dade Solid Waste Management Department mobile app. Residents can also call 311.

Mosquito Control continues to treat select areas regularly for mosquito larvae – learn more and check the schedule at bit.ly/MDCTruckSpray. To find out when and where Mosquito Control spray trucks will be providing truck spray treatments for adult mosquitoes, like the Mosquito Control Division Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/305Mosquito and /or follow @305Mosquito on Twitter. Route information is posted on both pages each afternoon.

For more tips and additional information about Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control program, please visit www.miamidade.gov/mosquito.

Follow @305Mosquito on Instagram.