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2006 Action Report
Memorandum
From: Bud Melaney, Assistant Town Engineer
CC: Council, Mayor, Town Manage
r
Date: October 27, 2006
To: The Record
Re: Mosquito Management: Summary 2006
All mosquito management activities were conducted by Vector Control Specialist, Eddie Mendoza, with assistance from Bud Melaney.
The trapping schedule set by the New Mexico Department of Health ran from April 23 thru October 22, 2006. Trapping activities were generally conducted every two weeks according to the schedule in order not to overwhelm the Dept. of Health with samples.
The last adult trapping was conducted on the week of October 8th. Only 16 adults were captured in 8 traps. There was not sufficient numbers to send to the state for testing. We ended the trapping season based on these low numbers, and the influx of cool autumn weather that dominated the area.
Approximately 14,000 adult mosquitoes were submitted to the Department of Public Health for testing of disease.
Through August 29, all tested adult samples (approximately 10,600) have been negative for West Nile Virus, Western Equine Encephalitis, and Saint Louis Encephalitis. Ms. Pamela Reynolds of NM Department of Health indicated that additional samples submitted may be tested.
We walked approximately 57,000 ft of streambeds and reported problem areas for 2006.
The surveillance and larviciding program typically includes: *Yankee drainage at C St., *Valle Drive, *PA creek south of 20th St. to Fire station 1 on Hudson St., *PA Creek across from Sunset Vista on North Fowler, *North Cottonwood at Cain and along Arrowhead, *Maude Creek at Hwy 180 (typically dry). *Silva Creek from Hester to Fire station 1. *San Vicente Creek at Fire station 1 then south to Mobile Drive. *La Capilla Park drainage off Victoria.
Dr. Nelson Powers, Entomologist with the NM Department of Health, passed away on September 27 after a brief illness. We consulted with Mr. Powers on a regular basis and we will sadly miss his assistance.
Dated September 11, 2006
Memorandum
From: Bud Melaney, Assistant Town Engineer
CC: Council, Mayor, Town Manager
Date: September 11, 2006
To: The Record
Re: Mosquito Management Activities, Through September 11, 2006
All mosquito management activities were conducted by Vector Control Specialist, Eddie Mendoza, with assistance from Bud Melaney.
Through August 3, all tested adult samples (approximately 2,361) have been negative for West Nile Virus, Western Equine Encephalitis, and Saint Louis Encephalitis.
As of September 11, approximately 13,800 adult mosquitoes have been submitted to the Department of Public Health.
Trapped adult counts tapered off by the week of September 4th, with a total of 834 from eight traps. Along Spring Creek in the vicinity of Rosedale road, two traps caught 364 adults which previously netted 876, 1562, 2306, 1895. The majority of theses are classified as floodwater mosquitoes. We suspect that as the floodwater mosquito counts drop off, and the monsoons taper off, there will probably be an increase in other species that favor woodland pools and fresh water. Larvae for these varieties of mosquitoes have been observed at increasing rates over the past couple of weeks.
To date, we have walked approximately 52,500 ft of streambeds and reported problem areas, and 16 nuisance complaints were telephoned in to the utility department.
The surveillance and larviciding program typically includes: *Yankee drainage at C St., *Valle Drive, *PA creek south of 20th St. to Fire station 1 on Hudson St., *PA Creek across from Sunset Vista on North Fowler, *North Cottonwood at Cain and along Arrowhead, *Maude Creek at Hwy 180 (typically dry). *Silva Creek from Hester to Fire station 1. *San Vicente Creek at Fire station 1 then south to Mobile Drive. *La Capilla Park drainage off Victoria.
This season we are monitoring additional areas based on the floodwater mosquitoes.
Dated August 26, 2006
Memorandum
From: Bud Melaney, Assistant Town Engineer
CC: Council, Mayor, Town Manager
Date: August 16, 2006
To: The Record
Re: Mosquito Management Activities, Through August 16, 2006
All mosquito management activities were conducted by Vector Control Specialist, Eddie Mendoza, with assistance from Bud Melaney. The summer employment program for the two summer students, Jacob Vega and Cody Martinez, ended on August 10.
Through July 20, all tested adult samples have been negative for West Nile Virus, Western Equine Encephalitis, and Saint Louis Encephalitis.
To date, we have walked approximately 50,400 ft of streambeds and reported problem areas, and 12 nuisance complaints were telephoned in to the utility department.
May was uneventful for trapping as only 4 adult mosquitoes were trapped for the whole month. Larviciding was basically completed every 10 days. The weather was dry and all upper streams that feed San Vicente Creek dried out. San Vicente basically has flowing water south of 7th St. The 6th St. pedestrian bridge trap location was vandalized again, so we will not setup there anymore.
June proved to be frustrating from a trapping stand point. Albertsons is the only known vendor of dry ice (CO2) in the Silver City area. Their supplier of the dry ice did not make any deliveries for the month, consequently we did not trap in June. Surveillance was conducted at regular intervals and larviciding helped manage populations along the San Vicente corridor.
The rains basically began on the week of July 4th. Large counts of mosquitoes were observed the week of July 12th. Test results to date show that most of the mosquitoes are of a floodwater species called Ochlerotatus Trivittatus. They are active in the daytime, and will swarm in full sunlight, and are an aggressive and painful biter. They are suspected of being a vector for varieties of encephalitis, but lack surveillance data for west nile virus. Our traditional surveillance and larviciding of ponded water or flowing streams do not include this species habitat. The adult counts of this species will remain high for several weeks. This year we have trapped about 8,400 adults, consisting primarily of Ochlerotatus Trivittatus. This contrasts to last years total 697 adults for the season. We are using more CO2 traps and trapping more frequently this year in hopes of controlling some of the adult populations.
The state has requested that we try to use gravid traps on a more frequent basis as they tend to collect adults that have had a blood meal, and may be a better indicator of the presence of disease. The gravid traps have proved ineffective this season, We had two gravid traps set at La Capilla Park for two weeks and we caught no adult mosquitoes.
The surveillance and larviciding program typically includes: *Yankee drainage at C St., *Valle Drive, *PA creek south of 20th St. to Fire station 1 on Hudson St., *PA Creek across from Sunset Vista on North Fowler, *North Cottonwood at Cain and along Arrowhead, *Maude Creek at Hwy 180 (typically dry). *Silva Creek from Hester to Fire station 1. *San Vicente Creek at Fire station 1 then south to Mobile Drive. *La Capilla Park drainage off Victoria.
This season we are monitoring additional areas based on the floodwater mosquitoes.
We thank the City for the purchase of a new freezer for vector control activities. This freezer has been of great benefit as we now have adequate storage space, and can get samples really cold for sorting and for shipping.
Date: July 14, 2006
Memorandum
From: Bud Melaney, Assistant Engineer
Date: July 14, 2006
To: The Record
Re: Mosquito Management Activities, May/June/July 2006
All mosquito management activities were conducted by Vector Control Specialist, Eddie Mendoza, with assistance from Bud Melaney. Two summer students are also assisting through August.
May was uneventful for trapping as only 4 adult mosquitoes were trapped for the whole month. Larviciding was basically completed every 10 days. The weather was dry and all upper streams that feed San Vicente Creek dried out. San Vicente basically has flowing water south of 7th St. The 6th St. pedestrian bridge trap location was vandalized again, so we will not setup there anymore.
June proved to be frustrating from a trapping stand point. Albertsons is the only known vendor of dry ice (CO2) in the Silver City area. Their supplier of the dry ice did not make any deliveries for the month, consequently we did not trap in June. Surveillance was conducted on regular intervals and larviciding helped manage populations along the San Vicente corridor.
No trapping was conducted over the week of July 4th as it was a City holiday. Approximately 4-inches of rain fell in the area from the evening of July 4th through about July 9th. On July 12th, it was reported that YCC students working on the south end of La Capilla Park were having nuisance complaints about mosquitoes. We followed up by trapping with one CO2 trap and two gravid traps. Again dry ice supply problems limited us to just one CO2 trap. The traps were checked on the morning of July 13th. The CO2 trap yielded 430 adult mosquitoes, while the two gravid traps had zero mosquitoes. Recall that for all of 2005 we only caught some 697 adult mosquitoes. No ponded water was observed in the spring fed channel south of Victoria St. during the field visits.
The state has requested that we try to use gravid traps on a more frequent basis as they tend to collect adults that have had a blood meal, and may be a better indicator of the presence of disease. These traps have been ineffective in past seasons.
The following places were surveyed with no observed adults, larvae, or pupae: *Yankee drainage at C St., *Valle Drive, *PA creek south of 20th St. to Hwy 180, *PA Creek across from Sunset Vista on North Fowler (dry), *North Cottonwood along Arrowhead, *Maude Creek at Hwy 180 (typically dry).
To date, we have walked approximately 32,400 ft of streambeds.
We thank the City for the purchase of a new freezer for vector control activities. This freezer has been of great benefit as we now have adequate storage space, and can get samples really cold for sorting and for shipping.
Date: April 13, 2006
Memorandum
To: The Record
From: Bud Melaney, Assistant Engineer
Date: April 13, 2006
Re: Mosquito Management Preseason Activities, April 2006
All mosquito management activities were conducted by Vector Control Specialist, Eddie Mendoza, with assistance from Bud Melaney.
Additional supplies were requested from Dr. Powers which included: 3 ea-dippers, 2 ea- gravid trap reservoirs. We did receive 2 of the dippers.
We have not received a formal surveillance schedule from the State Health Department. No trapping of adults will be undertaken until a formal schedule is received.
Preseason larviciding was initiated on April 11, 2006 along San Vincente Creek from about 7th St to south Corbin St, for a total length of about 5,300 feet. All phases of the mosquito life cycle were observed. A few pools of water had heavy counts of pupae. Bti was used in moderate and heavy doses.
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