The Williston Vector Control District has been notified by the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, 910th Airlift Wing, that they will, in fact, be coming to Williston in August. Logistical hurdles have been surmounted and they are tentatively scheduled, weather and conditions permitting, to conduct an aerial adulticide treatment one evening during the week of August 8th. Exact spray blocks will be determined prior to the treatment date.
The U.S. Air Force Reserve (USAFR) will be using a different chemical than Vector Control typically uses, called Imperium. Imperium is an EPA-registered adulticide applied by using Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) sprayers on appropriate aircraft to target adult mosquitoes. The active ingredient is Deltamethrin and is similar to the adulticide that Vector Control currently uses (Zenivex E20).
Why the sudden change? Each year, Williston Vector Control District requests the USAFR to conduct a larvicide mission and an adulticide mission. Sometimes they happen and sometimes they don’t; feasibility and scheduling is ultimately determined by the Department of Defense and the Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program. In 2020, all missions were cancelled due to COVID. In 2021, the larvicide mission was cancelled due to there not being enough flooded acreage to justify such a large larvicide effort. This year, we hit some logistical hurdles (e.g. paperwork) that we thought would stall us until next year. The Air Force Reserve was able to navigate those more quickly than we all had anticipated and here we are! Better yet – we’re definitely locked in for 2023! We appreciate the support we get from the USARF as it is a complement to the hard work our Vector Control crews do on a daily basis to manage our mosquito populations.
Although larvicide and adulticide treatments are conducted throughout the season, citizens are still advised to take extra precautions to avoid mosquito bites when spending time outdoors during the summer months especially during the hours of dusk to dawn. Wearing long sleeve tight knit shirts and long pants, limiting time outdoors during these times, and using a mosquito repellent such as DEET, Picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus are good actions to take to prevent bites. Citizens and businesses can help prevent mosquito re-population by eliminating any standing water on their property.
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