Charlotte County using larvacide to combat mosquitoes

PORT CHARLOTTE — As Charlotte County enters the rainy season, its Public Works Department is pivoting to focus on mosquito control.

Public Works Director John Elias updated to the County Commissioners on Tuesday.

Most requests for spraying come out of south and east Charlotte County, as opposed to the Rotonda West area, that represented more calls in previous years.

Elias said Public Works uses a contractor to fill gaps in the spraying schedule as repairs are done on the county's spraying helicopter.

"Our chopper literally just got the engine replaced," he told the board.

Public Works does not spray based on requests, per the department's website, but instead based on state guidelines. However, requests are taken to watch for potential future hotspots.

While targeting spraying has been used to target adult mosquitoes in problem areas, Public Works is also working to dose water on public land with larvicide.

Elias estimated Public Works had deployed roughly 40,000 pounds of larvicide to bodies of water to kill off mosquitoes before they take flight.

He also noted that Public Works staff are careful to deploy spray and larvicide on schedule and resist using it too frequently, to avoid the local mosquito population developing a resistance to the chemicals.

"We are constantly doing that kind of surveillance," he said.

A list of recent sprayings by location in the county can be found at the Public Works website.