Burton hears mosquito-control update; operator says tests show no arbovirus and offers treatment records
Loading...
Summary
At its July meeting, Burton City Council heard from APM Mosquito Control about a July mosquito hatch, recent spraying operations and negative test results; a resident raised health concerns and the operator offered treatment logs and data to investigate.
At the July 7 Burton City Council meeting, Ben of APM Mosquito Control gave the council and public an update on recent mosquito activity, described the city’s spraying operations and reported that surveillance testing so far has not detected arboviruses.
Ben said crews sprayed the city Sunday night and that operations use four trucks on four routes running roughly 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. He said his team had covered about 832.94 miles in the city and that there are 122 properties that have opted out of spraying (shutoff zones), which crews must avoid to comply with Department of Agriculture rules. “We’ve sprayed the city last night. It’s taken 4 trucks. 4 separate routes. We’re spraying Sunday nights from 10PM to 2AM,” Ben said.
On surveillance, Ben said his crew collected 355 mosquitoes, separated them into 13 pools and submitted them for virus testing; he reported all pools were negative. He described the trapping and testing program as one reason the city began active surveillance and said the product used leaves no meaningful residual by morning.
Council members asked whether shutoff addresses are confidential and whether trucks might miss some streets. Ben said he had provided the shutoff-list to Charlie in the Department of Public Works and offered to send treatment logs and addresses to the mayor’s office on request. “I can send them over to the, the mayor’s office. Glad to do that,” he said.
A council member relayed a constituent’s report that she felt sick after spraying. Ben said the first step is to get the address and pull treatment records to see how close spray activity was and noted the program’s buffer around shutoff properties. He said there is no residual with what they spray and characterized that particular resident’s claim as anecdotal: “She’s blowing smoke,” Ben said, while offering to provide exact treatment times and truck locations if the council wanted records.
Ben also warned that when residents breed container mosquitoes (tarps, boats, standing water) they will continue to see new adults even after spraying and asked residents to report standing water service requests; his team recorded about 90 calls into the office in recent weeks.
The presentation ended with Ben encouraging anyone with concerns to request records or call him directly so staff can verify treatment history and buffer zones.
