The City of Nacogdoches recently began a coordinated effort to reduce the mosquito population within the city limits by incorporating an integrative vector control program. According to Environmental Health Officer Tommy Wheeler, this program incorporates education, habitat elimination and application of larvalcide / adulticide, which is accomplished through the organized efforts of the Health Department (complaint investigations and education), Parks Department (adulticide/larvacide), and Code Enforcement and Public Works Department (habitat elimination).
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On a weekly basis, the Parks Department will spray each of the city’s five sections to reduce the existing mosquito population; this will be completed at night to reduce public inconvenience. The Code Enforcement and Public Works Departments also seeks to enforce this initiative in order to reduce the potential mosquito habitat in Nacogdoches.
The Health Department is working to educate the public on mosquito protection and prevention, as well as looking into any complaints that have been filed. With these combined efforts the city hopes to improve public health and comfort, especially as summer months mean more time spent enjoying the outdoors.
The Parks Department will provide a 30-day treatment per site per application. In the past, over 240 applications providing 30-day mosquito larvacide elimination have been made per year. The larvacide is applied to areas of standing water located on public property. The application of adulticide (mosquito spraying) will take place four to five nights per week. The greatest emphasis for treatment is placed on day care school locations and athletic complexes due to the high number of individuals in outdoor environments. To facilitate spraying, the City of Nacogdoches will utilize two ground units with only one working per night, while maintaining the other as a backup unit.
See the map below for reference to the division of the spraying sections. All spraying will take place between the hours of 3:00 AM and 7:00 AM.
Monday – Section A
Tuesday – Section E
Wednesday – Section B
Thursday – Section C
Friday – Section D
