Mosquito Traps to Aid Research
By SHELLEY HANSONArticle Photos
Mix 30 gallons of water, 3 pounds of horse manure, a pound of straw and a tablespoon brewers yeast and what do you get? A concoction that attracts female mosquitoes ripe for catching.
Michael Makowski, regional epidemiologist at the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department, recently made the recipe near the city of Wheeling's wastewater treatment plant - a location already known for putting off an odor in Center Wheeling.
The mixture now must ferment for a few days before it is scooped into six separate traps expected to attract and catch mosquitoes that will be tested for diseases - including West Nile virus. The traps will be placed this week in various locations across Ohio County. The traps are not expected to be situated in any residential neighborhoods.
''They're protecting the public's health. We want to know what's happening in Ohio County,'' Makowski said. ''I think the public would like to know.''
He noted the state provided the traps and will also test the mosquitoes for West Nile and three different types of encephalitis: La Crosse, Eastern equine and Saint Louis. Symptoms of these diseases are often flu-like.
If testing reveals the mosquitoes are infected with any disease, the health department will then alert the public to take precautions - mainly to wear a mosquito-repelling agent when outside.
Made by the John W. Hock Co. of Gainesville, Fla., the base of a trap is a black plastic wash tub. Connected to it is a vertical, black plastic pipe held in place with two aluminum bars screwed to the tub. Inside the tube is a fan - powered by a 6-volt battery - to vacuum the bugs up through the pipe that is topped with a fine, white net.
When it's time to remove the netting, a shoelace drawstring is used to keep the mosquitoes contained inside. The bugs don't have to be alive for their journey by mail to Charleston, but they do need to be fresh, Makowski said.
''We're all learning together how to do mosquito trapping,'' Makowski said, noting the health department's sanitarians will help check the traps every couple days.
Administrator Howard Gamble believes the health department may have participated in the state surveillance program during the late 1990s under a different administrator.
''The southern part of the state started in May. We'll probably go until Nov. 1, when the first frost kills them off,'' Makowski said of the mosquitoes.
Female mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water - even the smallest amount will do.
