Phil Goodman, board chair of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District and commissioner for District Two, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about mosquitos.
The recent rainfall of up to 2.5 inches, primarily in the Upper Keys around Key Largo, has already led to mosquito larval development.
“We see already some larval development,” Goodman said. “This wind right now is hampering some of our responses, and it may for the rest of the day.”
Strong winds are also pushing tidal water into new areas where mosquitoes can breed. Goodman said the district is monitoring those locations and plans to treat them as conditions allow.
“Overall, the counts are pretty good all up and down the Keys,” Goodman said. “We still have a few hot spots, but I think we’ve been able to stay ahead of it this year from the nuisance mosquito side of things.”
The district is particularly focused on the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can transmit dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases. Goodman said the population of those mosquitoes is currently low, and there have been no reports of local mosquito-borne disease transmission in the Keys.
“There have been some travel-related cases here, like everywhere else in the state of Florida,” Goodman said. “But we have a very aggressive preventive program here that we go in and take care of when there are travel-related cases to be sure that there’s no local transmission so far.”
In preparation for Fantasy Fest, the district recently completed its annual Key West sweep, inspecting approximately 7,000 properties over two weeks. Officials identified about 900 homes that needed treatment.
Goodman said the effort is especially important this year because dengue fever has been reported in numerous Florida counties, and Fantasy Fest is expected to bring visitors from throughout the mainland.
“We want to be sure that our Aedes aegypti numbers are as low as possible to prevent or reduce the chance of any kind of mosquito-borne disease local transmission,” Goodman said. “We’ve got the numbers very low right now. It was a very successful sweep that we had, and that’s something that we’ll continue to do.”
Goodman emphasized that mosquito control is essential to preventing the spread of dengue fever.
“There’s really no preventive, there’s no cure for these diseases,” he said. “They just have to run their course once you get them, and there’s no vaccine really that’s effective for these. So the only way to control the virus is to control the number of mosquitoes.”
Strong winds can make that work more difficult. Goodman explained that when winds reach 20 to 25 knots, mosquitoes tend to shelter in foliage, making treatment more challenging.
“When the wind’s blowing like it is now, the mosquitoes just kind of hunker down in the foliage,” Goodman said. “They’re not out about flying, and so they wait for nicer weather so that they can get out.”
However, he cautioned that mosquitoes can still find opportunities to bite people, making continued control efforts important.
Goodman said the district has benefited this year from periods of calmer weather following rainfall, allowing crews to resume treatments before mosquito populations could rise significantly.
“When we’ve had rain, we’ve also soon after had a few days of clearing so that we can get out and treat,” he said. “We haven’t had those long, extended wind and rain events that really hamper our treatment areas and can cause the numbers of Aedes aegypti to increase.”
He described the year so far as successful for mosquito control in the Florida Keys.
The district has also completed its Wolbachia mosquito trials, which began in April at three 20-acre sites in the Middle Keys. Three nearby 20-acre control sites were used for comparison. Officials are analyzing the results and expect to have findings by the end of the year.
“There’s quite a bit of calculations that has to be done,” Goodman said. “There are a lot of statistics applied to that data.”
The results will compare Aedes aegypti populations in the test areas with those in the control areas to determine the effectiveness of the trials.
Goodman also discussed the growing dengue fever concerns in the Tampa Bay area, where Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties have faced increased challenges. He said mosquito control districts throughout Florida are preparing to share resources and discuss ways to strengthen the state’s response to mosquito-borne diseases.
“We’ve learned that mosquito control, we are the first line of defense against these diseases, and we’re really the main line of defense,” Goodman said.
He said mosquito control districts can respond directly to mosquito populations, while identifying and addressing human cases of disease involves additional agencies and coordination.
Goodman warned that dengue fever is a concern for the state as a whole, not just the counties experiencing increased transmission.
“When you read the newspapers in New York and New Jersey, the headline is Florida experiencing the largest dengue outbreak in eight decades, and you read down to the third paragraph before you start seeing that it’s Tampa Bay,” Goodman said. “So it’s really Florida. So it affects all of us.”
He said mosquito control agencies must work together to protect public health and Florida’s economy.
The district is also monitoring the investigation into a fatal helicopter crash involving a pilot working for the Manatee County Mosquito Control District. Goodman said the pilot had been involved in efforts to address the disease situation in the Tampa Bay area.
He described aerial mosquito control as hazardous work because pilots must fly at low altitudes to treat targeted areas. Although some mainland districts conduct nighttime aerial operations, Goodman said the Florida Keys district has determined that nighttime flying is not practical or safe for its operations.
“We’re flying below 150 feet here to hit our targets,” Goodman said, explaining that the Keys’ smaller treatment areas require a different approach from the larger land masses found in some mainland counties.
“We’ve looked at this and evaluated night flying for us, and it’s just not something that’s practical or safe,” he said. “So we will not be doing that here.”
Goodman urged residents to continue taking precautions around their homes, particularly by emptying containers and other areas where standing water can collect.
“Let’s not drop our guards,” he said. “We want to be sure that everybody continues to go around their property and dump out any standing water that they have.”
He added that mosquito season may continue longer than usual this year, making it important for residents and officials to remain vigilant.