Mosquito control just one of many jobs district does

While mosquitoes can be annoying and their "bites" unquestionably itchy, it was the insect's transmission of malaria that made them the target of the first mosquito control district in Shasta County in 1919. Many of those districts combined in the 1950s to take the form of the Shasta Mosquito and Vector Control District, according to the district's 2009 annual report.

The district held an open house recently to show off its facilities on Latona Road in Anderson.

Vectors can be any type of small animals or arthropods that can spread disease, according to the report, but the district spends most of its resources controlling mosquitoes, a carrier of the West Nile Virus.

With funding from property taxes and benefit assessment charges, the district monitors 4,000 sites across the county as possible mosquito breeding pools, said Peter Bonkrude, district manager. The district also raises and provides mosquito fish to residents free of charge. The district will even deliver them to residents, Bonkrude said.

A tour of district facilities included views of mosquito traps, all-terrain vehicles used to access remote locations and a walk-through of the laboratory where captured mosquitoes are identified and counted.

The district recently completed the construction of an insectory where mosquitoes naive to pesticides are compared to Shasta County's resident mosquito population, said Peter Bonkrude, district manager.

The laboratory mosquitoes are born in the insectory - a climate-controlled closet where even the lights are cycled on and off to simulate a day-night cycle. The insectory includes eight pans of aerated water with about 8 million mosquito larvae. Once the lavae pupates, they will be moved to a cage as they turn into adult, flying mosquitoes.

To contact the district, call 365-0305.

© 2010 Anderson Valley Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.