Please Help Us Keep East Hartford's Mosquito Population Under Control
Each year, around mid-spring, the Town of East Hartford, as well as every town and city across the country, will see the mosquito population hatch. While mosquitos are certainly a painful and annoying nuisance, they also bring the risk of disease. While viruses like Zika and West Nile have been in the national news lately, we believe the risk to our community from these diseases is currently quite low. We are however taking proactive measures to ensure the safety of our residents.
East Hartford is one of the only towns in the area that still does spraying for mosquitos. We have continued our program because of our commitment to the health and safety of our residents and we believe that having a mosquito management program is crucial to controlling and preventing the spread of disease. The Town protects residents by adding larvicide to the storm drain system and by applying fog and spray buffers on state and town-owned watercourse and wetland properties that abut neighborhoods and local parks. This helps block mosquito movement into inland residential areas.
I do have to stress that the town does not have the authority or ability to spray on private property. However, you can and should call the Health Department at 860-291-7324 if you are experiencing high levels of mosquitos in and around your property. Information from residents is crucial to identifying highly infested areas of town, and allows us to deploy what resources we do have in the most effective manner.
Due to an exceptionally wet spring, the mosquito infestation in East Hartford may be significantly worse this spring and summer than it has been in previous years. While the Town is adjusting its mosquito control program accordingly, residents will likely see more mosquitos this year. There are several preventative measures that you can take to prevent or alleviate infestation. The most important thing is to keep an eye out for standing pools of water. There are multiple places where mosquitos can breed, including but not limited to: flower pots, bird baths, water pooled on tarps, unused portable pools and gutters. Remove or drain these objects if you can; if the standing water is not easily removed you may purchase a twenty pack of ‘mosquito dunks’ containing larvicide from the Health Department for $10.00. These dunks usually last several weeks and prevent the mosquitos from hatching and becoming full adults.
Repellents are also recommended to avoid mosquito bites if you spend time outside in the evening. Consumer Reports recently compared mosquito and deer tick repellents and recommended several containing 15-30% DEET. A repellent containing oil of lemon eucalyptus and one with 20% picaridin as active ingredients were also recommended. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend use of repellents containing more than 30% DEET for children. It is unlikely to be beneficial for most residents to use DEET in concentrations above 30%.
For the next few months we all have to work together to make sure that we are aware of all the mosquito breeding areas in town. Resident feedback is the most important part of that process and we welcome resident’s concerns, because they allow us to pinpoint the most crucial spots to spray. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact my office at 860-291-7200 or the Health Department at 860-291-7324.