Mosquito swarms prompt warning

Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Mosquitoes like the one shown above are swarming the recreation areas around the junior high.

The Mountain Home School District is warning anyone attending events at Tiger Field and at Eastside Park, to be prepared to deal with "swarms" of mosquitoes.

The high school football facility located adjacent to the junior high, and Eastside Park with its soccer fields, as well as the surrounding areas have become prime breeding grounds this year for mosquitoes.

With concerns about the recent appearance in the region of West Nile virus, a mosquitoe-borne flu-like disease that is occasionally fatal, the school district is worried about more than just the annoyance of mosquito bites.

Superintendent Jerrie LeFevre said the district will be taking "reasonable measures," to combat the problem, including the spraying the areas before events, "but we can't do it every day, we just don't have the money to do that, and the problem is just on school property. There's a lot of farmland and other property in the area that we can't get to where the mosquitoes are breeding.

"It is simply too widespread to fully control. It's too large for the school district to handle."

Right now, the best we can really hope for is a cold snap that will kill the mosquitoes and the larvae," LeFevre said.

Currently there is no mosquito abatement district or county-run program in Elmore County. Control measures are up to individual property owners.

Brochures on mosquito-borne diseases and prevention measures provided by Central District Health and notices of the problem are being sent home with every student in the district this week, advising parents of the problem.

Persons attending events in the sports complex area around the junior high are being urged to cover any exposed skin with long pants and long-sleeved shirts, to apply insect repellant containing DEET to exposed skin and clothing, and, if possible, to avoid the area when mosquitoes are most active, at dawn and dusk.

LeFevre said that in general, school events at the fields, such as football games that begin around dusk, could not be rescheduled because of the disruption it would cause those schools that the Tigers are playing. "It just isn't real feasible to do that."

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: