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Mosquito control urges Rancho Santa Margarita residents to dump standing water as season begins
Summary
Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District representatives briefed the council on vector-borne disease risks, surveillance and prevention steps, including a sterile-insect pilot and free mosquito-eating fish for qualifying water features.
Representatives of the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District on April 9 briefed the Rancho Santa Margarita City Council on vector-borne disease risks and seasonal outreach.
The district described three mosquito species of concern: Aedes spp. (a dengue vector), the Southern house mosquito (a West Nile virus vector), and others. The district representative said travel-related dengue cases have been detected in the region and emphasized that local transmission would be a larger concern.
District staff described county surveillance (a grid of traps and lab testing), unmaintained-pool inspections (one tested pool yielded roughly 300,000 larvae), and free services such as inspections and provision of mosquito-eating fish for qualifying water features. "Please dump standing water because that mosquito can very easily fly over the fence and bite me," a district representative told the council.
The district also discussed a sterile-insect technique pilot in Mission Viejo that separates males from females, sterilizes males with X-rays and releases them to reduce offspring production. District outreach plans include a public awareness campaign timed with California Mosquito Awareness Week.
Council members thanked the district and encouraged residents to follow the advice of dumping, draining and reporting potential breeding sites.
