Students learn about Aedes Aegypti mosquito; become ‘Vector Inspectors’
Officials from the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District are heading to elementary schools in Coachella, teaching kids about the Aedes Aegypti and how they can help get rid of it.
They’re enlisting the help of hundreds of elementary school students in their new “Vector Inspector” program to run this mosquito out of town.
Since the mosquito was detected in Coachella, mosquito and vector control has been working overtime to find and get rid of this pest.
“We have teams going out everyday. We’ve completely reorganized how our vector department works,” said Jill Oviatt the public information officer with the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control.
Now they’re educating elementary school kids across Coachella about the mosquito.
Many students said they’re unaware of the potential threat.
“I didn’t know what color it was, I didn’t even know it existed,” said sixth-grader Elizabeth Ibarra.
Each student will take home a kit filled with a dropper and a collection cup.
They’re asked to go around their homes looking for any standing water taking samples and returning them to the school.
“It’s amazing for us cause we’re getting 300 samples in from our little student researchers that we wouldn’t have had before. So it will just give us a clearer idea of the infestation level in Coachella,” Oviatt said.
Students said they’re ready for their job.
“I’m going to tell my sister to help me and we’re going to look through the plants and the toys where mostly where I think the water is going to be,” Ibarra said.
Since the mosquitoes were first detected, the impacted area has grown from 44 homes to hundreds of homes.
“So every day we’re finding more Aedes, not a lot, but a little here and there that keeps expanding the area,” Oviatt said.
Officials said currently none of these Aedes here in the valley carry viruses like the Zika virus.
But they said programs like these are important to get rid of these mosquitoes before the problem gets worse.
