ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County residents could soon start seeing relief from mosquitoes which have swarmed the southeastern part of the state since Hurricane Florence swept through earlier this month causing massive flooding.
The Health Department will be contracting with a pest control service next week to ground spray for the insects next week, according to a press release issued Friday afternoon.
Testing recently performed by the health department indicated that up to 50 mosquitoes could land on a person within a minute.
Richmond County was allotted $55,112 out of $4 million Gov. Roy Cooper released for mosquito abatement in the 28 counties declared disaster areas, Health and Human Services Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell told commissioners on Tuesday.
Commissioner Don Bryant expressed concern about the effect of spraying on the local bee population.
“The last thing we want to do is cause problems for beekeepers,” Jarrell said Friday.
Paige Burns, horticulture agent with the Cooperative Extension office, said there were more than 70 members of the Richmond County Beekeepers Association, one of the oldest of such groups in the state.
The county is asking all beekeepers to call the Health Department at 910-997-8320 by Tuesday, Oct. 9 to register the addresses of the beehives and mark them on a map so the pest control company will be aware while spraying. Jarrell said beekeepers will be notified ahead of time so they can take protective measures to secure their hives.
The county doesn’t have a mosquito-control program, Jarrell said, adding that a private contractor could get the job done faster.
Several counties in the east have already started spraying, he said. Richmond County hopes to start next week, though a date has not yet been set nor a contractor hired.
“There are a lot of things that have to occur before spraying starts,” Jarrell said, including putting out bids for contractors and making sure the chemicals that will be used are safe, both of which the state has to approve.
The one-time spraying won’t get rid of all of the mosquitoes, Jarrell said, but will “get them down to something we can live with.”
The health director said not only are mosquito a nuisance, keeping people from enjoying being outside, but there is also the risk of contracting diseases — including West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis.
Jarrell said that mosquito-borne illnesses are not likely, but possible.
An elderly Cumberland County resident died of West Nile virus in July and a 6-year-old boy in the western part of the state landed in ICU in August with La Crosse encephalitis due to a mosquito bite, multiple media outlets reported.
According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 43 cases of West Nile virus reported in 26 counties and six cases of EEE reported in five counties from 2003-2014.
Mosquitoes are also a threat to livestock.
Richmond County recorded the state’s first horse death to EEE in early July and there were also two reported deaths in Onslow County, WITN-TV reported.
Mosquitoes are responsible for millions of human deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization.
