Vector Mosquito Control briefs committee on July report, plans for increased testing

Vector Mosquito Control presented its July report to a Jonesboro City Council committee and answered members’ questions about operations, surveillance and disease testing.

The agency told the committee that adult mosquito counts and spray miles were lower in July than in the prior year, primarily because of dry weather and extreme heat. Vector said ground spraying happened frequently in July, an aerial spray was flown before July 4, and during the most recent week the north half of the city had been sprayed; additional flights were weather‑dependent. The agency reported average service requests fell from roughly 20–25 per week around July 4 to approximately four to five per week in the weeks following.

Testing and disease surveillance

Vector staff said light‑trap mosquito surveillance counts dropped from about 5,500 to about 3,700 (year‑over‑year comparison cited in committee discussion), and staff linked the decline to dry conditions and high temperatures that both reduced mosquito breeding and constrained spraying operations. A Vector supervisor, Ted Green, told the committee the larvicide and inspection numbers were lower in July compared with July 2024 because many potential breeding sites were dry.

Vector representatives said they will increase virus testing through a partnership with researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). The contractor said researchers (named in the meeting as Dr. Alsbrook/Osborne) will test mosquito collections for West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis and possible local malaria vectors; Vector staff said some locally acquired malaria cases have been reported in Arkansas in recent years, and the anopheline species that breed in rice fields can carry malaria.

Planned operational changes

Vector told the committee it plans to begin additional trap collections and testing in the coming week and to perform more active testing through the end of the season if virus activity is detected. Staff said they will purchase additional aircraft based in Cleveland, Mississippi, to shorten response time for aerial abatement, and that spraying is less effective in extreme heat because temperature inversions prevent pesticide droplets from remaining in the target zone.

Budget and workload

Committee members noted an approximate $241,000 ARPA allocation in the 2025 budget that had been applied toward mosquito abatement; Vector said the program is winding down for the season as harvests and field drainage occur but that operations and testing will increase if virus surveillance warrants it. Vector described usual hot spots (Ashwood, Partridge and areas south of the bypass, plus Shady Lane near rice fields) where trap counts historically run higher.

Committee questions and next steps

Committee members asked how often testing occurs; Vector said testing has been performed “as needed” and that staff planned collections and testing at the end of the month and would likely begin collections the next week. The agency said it will respond with abatement actions if virus levels in traps justify that response. Committee members thanked Vector for the update; no formal committee action or vote was taken on the report.

Provenance

- topicintro: block_25 (s=425.625–e=445.77) evidence_excerpt:"First on our other business is Vector Mosquito Control Report for July 2025..." - topfinish: block_53 (s=1071.33–e=1077.035) evidence_excerpt:"Good deal. Gentlemen from VECTOR, we do appreciate your time and thank you for, answering these questions for us."