Throughout the state, cities are fighting a battle to control mosquitoes that can carry diseases such as West Nile and Chikungunya. The subtropical climate in Texas, along with the area’s high humidity and warm temperatures, provide ideal conditions for mosquitoes to thrive.

These conditions allow mosquitoes to breed rapidly in small amounts of standing water, which are often found in clogged gutters, tree stumps and bird baths. In addition, rainfall helps supply the water needed to create optimum breeding grounds for mosquitoes, along with the moisture that nourishes them and their eggs.

Mosquitoes also find their food source in the form of plant nectar. This is why it is so important to eliminate all mosquito-breeding sites in your yard and landscape. If you are tired of battling mosquitoes and their deadly diseases, schedule an appointment with one of our professionals today.

In addition to eliminating mosquito-breeding habitat, personal protection is the most effective method for preventing mosquito bites. You can prevent mosquitoes by wearing long sleeves and pants, avoiding areas where they rest during the day, and using repellent that contains DEET or another EPA-registered ingredient such as picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, PMD or IR3535.

You can also reduce your mosquito Texas mosquito control problems by repairing any screens in your home that could be allowing mosquitoes to enter the house. It is also important to clean out and recycle any containers that hold standing water around your home, such as pails, flower pot plates and trays, planters and ornamental vases.

The City will continue to monitor mosquitoes and their potential for carrying the West Nile virus, as well as other mosquito-borne diseases. This will be done by conducting targeted ground spraying during the night, weather permitting, over a two-day period at locations where mosquito traps have been positive for virus-infected mosquitoes. This is in line with the Tarrant County Mosquito Surveillance Program and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.

TCPH Public Health utilizes a contractor to perform the ground spraying using an EPA-registered mosquito product. TCPH hires these contractors through a competitive bidding process that follows the City’s insecticide purchasing policies and procedures, and all personnel working on this project are licensed to apply mosquito controls and must meet TCPH insecticide application specifications.

This season, TCPH is targeting the Aedes mosquito population that carries Zika and Chikungunya virus. These are mosquitoes that can spread these viruses during the day, unlike the Culex mosquito that carries the West Nile Virus. The City is currently spraying unincorporated parts of the county with a combination of permethrin and sumithrin. This treatment is scheduled according to the CDC’s phased response guidelines for Zika and Chikungunya. Residents can check the City website and social media for spray notifications or sign up to receive text or email alerts via Notify Me. Residents should also keep an eye on the weather and should be prepared for possible cancellations of planned treatments.