Precinct 3 Mosquito Program expanding

THE WOODLANDS, TX - Under Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack’s direction, the Mosquito Control Program is expanding to cover all unincorporated areas of Montgomery County. The countywide program will operate out of the new Mosquito Control Lab, located near the Commissioner’s Office in The Woodlands.

The science-driven program will operate on a much larger scale than ever before, collecting mosquito samples from all four county precincts on a weekly basis and testing them for diseases such as the West Nile virus. Data yielded from these samples are used to make decisions about where and when mosquito spraying takes place, in order to ensure that the county’s treatment efforts produce the desired effect of disrupting the disease transmission cycle between mosquitoes and humans.

The facility has a greater capacity for processing mosquito samples, enabling more samples to be collected and tested in the same week. In many cases, mosquito testing results can be yielded the same day the sample was collected, allowing for a quick treatment response to disease activity in local mosquito populations.

Sample collection efforts will focus on species that can carry and transmit the West Nile virus to humans, which in the Montgomery County area is primarily the Southern House Mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus). While the West Nile virus accounts for the vast majority of mosquito-borne disease activity in the county, specimens are submitted to the Department of State Health Services to be tested for other diseases on a regular basis, ensuring that other disease activity is detected promptly.

Other efforts of the newly expanded program will involve help for individual residents dealing with mosquito-related issues as well as more general public education efforts. Members of the Mosquito Control Team are available to help all Montgomery County residents identify and eliminate mosquito breeding sites on their own property. These site evaluations are provided free of charge and include personalized recommendations specific to each resident’s property and outdoor activities. For more information, please contact the Mosquito Control Team at 281-364-4203 or send an email to justin.fausek@mctx.org.

To see which areas in Precinct 3 are scheduled for treatment, visit precinct3.org/mosquito and click the button labeled Mosquito Treatment Map.