CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With the storms the city of Corpus Christi has seen this week, mosquitos aren't too far behind. The city's vector control team was setting out mosquito traps this Friday morning.
The City of Portland's Public Works Department is beginning what they're calling 'mosquito surveillance' to see what residents can expect for the season ahead.
May 1 is when the state reopens mosquito testing operations to make sure those insects aren't carrying any viruses. Portland Public Works Director Kenneth Banks said they're making every effort to ensure the community is safe from harm.
"What we've seen so far isn't really unusual from what we've seen in year's past," he said. "But the season is very long, and things can happen during that time."
His team has been monitoring larvae sightings for the last few months. What prompts spraying is outbreaks and rain events.
"That's why it's so important for us to go out regularly and do all this testing so we can really see what's going on in real time," Banks said.
Right now, Portland does not have a set date to begin spraying but as the season progresses, that will change.
"It's very early in the season and these organisms don't tend to live very long once they become adults," he said. "Some can travel very long distances and some travel very short distances."
Right now, the city isn't seeing any patterns that should concern residents.
"This is kind of the kickoff for us to start up the season is May 1," Banks said.
For the City of Corpus Christi, some of their preventative measures begin as early as March 1. Director of Animal Care Services Joel Skidmore said the most common method most people know is adulticiding.
"Behind me we have our adulticiding machines these are the machines you see in the back of the trucks, with the officers driving down the street, and it's spraying the fog out for mosquitos," Skidmore said.
At this time, there's no set date for the City of the Corpus Christi to begin adulticiding. Skidmore said that's a good thing.
"What we've been doing proactively is what is called larvae sighting," he said. "And what that is, is we go out to the breeding grounds and we look for any areas where the mosquitos hatch which is usually standing water."
The level of mosquitos in traps currently, have not risen to the point that would activate the adulticide spray.
"You can really minimize the time that you're potentially getting bit and because of that you lower your risk of getting disease," Banks said.
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