State begins battling mosquitoes

It’s an annual summer battle; to combat the mosquito population.

On Tuesday, cities and towns throughout Southern New England started their preparations.

The mosquito abatement expert with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management spent Tuesday morning with Department of Public Works officials from throughout the Ocean State.

Related Link: Fight The Bite: CDC Resources on West Nile and EEE

The workers were getting a refresher course in mosquito abatement and picked up some much needed supplies.

DEM distributed larvicide to communities throughout Rhode Island. Workers in each city and town will use the larvicide to treat catch basins, ponds and other bodies of standing water where mosquitoes can breed.

This is something the state has been doing annually for several years now. DEM distributes materials to help control the mosquito population and to minimize the chances that a mosquito infected with EEE or West Nile virus will bite.

Al Gettman of DEM says it’s too early to predict what the mosquito population will be like this summer, that’s weather dependent.

The state will start its weekly trapping and testing of mosquitoes next week.