5/08

Public information supplied by:

BUTTE COUNTY MOSQUITO

AND

VECTOR CONTROL DISTRICT

5117 Larkin Road

Oroville, California 95965-9250

From Chico/Paradise

Phone: 342-7350

From Biggs/Gridley/Oroville/Richvale

Phone: 533-6038

Fax: 534-9916

FOGGING(FOR ADULT MOSQUITO CONTROL)

A

Public

Service

From...

FOGGING OPERATIONSFOGGING OPERATIONSFOGGING OPERATIONSFOGGING OPERATIONS

District employees are working to make your

neighborhood a more comfortable and safe place to

live by reducing the number of adult mosquitoes that

can transmit disease to humans and pets, and by

decreasing the nuisance problems mosquitoes

create.

One of our control methods is a mist or fog

application which uses pyrethrin, an EPA registered

pesticide that is deadly to flying mosquitoes but

does not harm people or pets.

Pyrethrin is an organic botanical insecticide made

from chrysanthemum flowers which are grown in

Kenya and Ecuador. It is used in residential areas

and restaurants throughout the United States

because of its high toxicity to insects and low

hazard to humans and domestic animals.

Using truck-mounted equipment, District personnel

apply this adulticide during the evening and morning

hours when mosquitoes are most active.

Pyrethrins have been used for years in aerosol cans

in homes and as a dust to control fleas on dogs and

cats, particularly on puppies and kittens.

Pyrethrin was in the old “F lit” fly spray used fifty

years ago. Birds, fish and plants are not affected by

the low dosages used to kill mosquitoes.

The District applies pyrethrin in the residential

foothill areas of Butte County to control the

“Treehole Mosquito” Aedes sierrensis, which can

transmit canine heartworm and causes severe

nuisance problems to residents.

In the valley area, the adulticide is applied to reduce

Anopheles freeborni the “Malaria Mosquito,” and

Culex tarsalis, the “Encephalitis Mosquito,” which

breed in rice fields and migrate into populated

areas.

Pyrethrin is also used to control the “Floodwater

Mosquitoes” Aedes nigromaculis and Aedes

melanimon, vicious day-biters that cause extreme

discomfort to residents and livestock.

Weather conditions are critical to the success of a

fogging operation and are carefully monitored by the

District. The spray droplets must remain suspended

in the air in order for the mosquitoes to come in

contact with the material. Too much wind or heat

can cause the spray to disperse before it can affect

the mosquitoes. Pyrethrin does not persist in the

environment. It is broken down rapidly into harmless

substances in the air, soil and water.

Pyrethrin does not damage automobile or house

paint.

If you have a general respiratory condition which

may be irritated by foreign materials in aerosol

forms, you should contact the District so we can

work with you to avoid problems if at all possible.

We try to give reasonable notice to people with true

respiratory problems. Our applications are to protect

public health, and we solicit your assistance and

support.