Mount Laurel, N.J. (PRWEB) August 18, 2014
The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) reminds the public that the integrated mosquito management methods currently employed by organized mosquito and vector control districts and endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are comprehensive and specifically tailored to safely counter each stage of the mosquito life cycle.
Communities seeking relief from massive mosquito populations this summer are coming under increasing pressure from activists to refrain from applying public health pesticides to abate the problem and provide protection from diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. These attacks on the proper use of EPA-registered public health pesticides are most unfortunate, shortsighted, and place the public at increased risk of mosquito-borne diseases.
“Larval control through water management and source reduction, where compatible with other land management uses, is a prudent pest management alternative - as is use of the environmentally friendly EPA-registered larvicides currently available,” said Joe Conlon, Technical Advisor for the AMCA. “However, when source elimination or larval control measures are clearly inadequate, or in the case of imminent disease, the EPA and CDC have emphasized the need for considered application of adulticides by certified applicators trained in the specialized handling of these products in a published joint statement.”
The extremely small droplet aerosols utilized in adult mosquito control are designed to impact on adult mosquitoes that are in flight at the time of the application. Degradation of these small droplets is rapid, leaving little or no residue in the target area at ground level. These special considerations are major factors that favor the use of very low application rates for these products, at approximately 0.06 ounces active ingredient per acre in the case of permethrin, and are instrumental in minimizing adverse impacts.
In many cases, such as in protected wetlands, mosquito breeding habitat cannot be removed or treated with larvicides. The public health community is thus forced to deal with the blood-feeding adult mosquitoes being produced in these areas using other means. Furthermore, flight ranges of many mosquito species are in excess of two miles, meaning they can bring their diseases into populated areas from outside jurisdictions. In order to stop the disease transmission cycle these populations must be dealt with by adulticides when deemed necessary by mosquito control experts.
“To gratuitously eliminate adulticiding as a control alternative removes a valuable tool that significantly reduces the disease threat while simultaneously reducing the number of mosquitoes producing future generations,” said Conlon.
Despite intense pressures in some communities to eliminate the use of mosquito adulticides, the CDC, World Health Organization (WHO) and other public health agencies agree that it is essential that adulticiding remains available for disease prevention and control of large nuisance mosquito populations. The public health agencies promote the proper use of mosquitocides by established mosquito control agencies does not put the general public or the environment at unreasonable risk from runoff, leaching or drift when used according to label specifications.
“Several recent studies have clearly shown that the risk from mosquito-borne disease far outweighs that posed by mosquito adulticides in even the worst-case scenarios,” says Conlon.
The AMCA promotes integrated, effective and sustainable mosquito control utilizing the full range of mosquito control methods, where appropriate, as the key to enhancing the public’s health and quality of life. The general public can adopt safe mosquito control following “the 3 Ds:
- Drain: Empty out water containers at least once per week
- Dress: Wear long sleeves, long pants, and light-colored, loose-fitting clothing
- Defend: Properly apply an EPA registered approved repellent such as DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon-eucalyptus
For more information on the American Mosquito Control Association or this issue, please visit http://www.mosquito.org.
About the American Mosquito Control Association
Celebrating 79 years of protecting public health in 2014, the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) is an international not-for-profit public service association. With over 1,600 members worldwide, AMCA membership extends to more than 35 countries, and includes individuals and public agencies engaged in mosquito control, mosquito research and related activities. Please visit AMCA online at http://www.mosquito.org and follow AMCA on Twitter @AMCAupdates.
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