Crews inspecting area where Aedes Aegypti mosquito found
Crews are out in full force fighting a mosquito that can carry the Zika virus.
The Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District announced Monday the first sighting of this invasive mosquito in the Coachella Valley.
Tuesday crews are going door to door, looking in anything that can hold water where mosquitoes can breed.
This is what crews will be doing for the next few days near the intersection of Calle Rojo and Calle Camacho in Coachella.
“Already today we have four teams out inspecting four quadrants in this area. They’ve broken them all down, so we can look at every house and inspect everything and find where this water might be,” said Jill Oviatt the Public Information Officer for the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District.
Their goal is to make sure these mosquitoes don’t call the valley their home.
“If we try to get them out early we’re hoping to get rid of them before they establish here,” Oviatt said.
Since the CVMVCD started the process, they’ve learned there are more Aedes Aegypti than expected.
“We’re looking for three things. We’re looking for sources could breed even, if they’re not breeding right now. We’re looking for places where there is current breeding and we’re looking for adults as well. And we have traps set up all around this neighborhood,” Oviatt said.
They’ve already found some mosquito larva inside a washing machine with standing water inside.
Once they’ve inspected they spray a product to kill adult mosquitoes.
People living in the area said they’re thankful for the immediate response.
“I’m thankful people are out here caring about the community and about us, my friend, myself so that’s pretty cool,” said Martha Ramirez who volunteers in the neighborhood.
But they said they aren’t going to panic just yet.
“I think us as citizens, we should not be alarmed too much,” said Uriel Leal who lives in the area where the mosquitoes have been found.
The district said right now you shouldn’t be worried.
“What people should be is on the alert. These are not the kinds of new neighbors we want. We know they can change the way we live. These are day biters. They bite all day long, they prefer humans,” Oviatt said.
These crews will be working tirelessly to make sure community members know this is a problem and ask for their help solving it.
CVMVCD said the best thing homeowners can do is get rid of anything that can hold water.
These mosquitoes can breed in water in something as tiny as a water bottle cap.
But it’s important to make sure everyone knows these mosquitoes can carry viruses like Zika and yellow fever, but right now none of them are actively transmitted in California.
