County Warns Against Mosquitoes, Ticks

COURT HOUSE – With outdoor activities increasing and tick and mosquito peak season quickly approaching (July and August), it’s important to stay on high alert and start protecting yourself, home, and family from blood-sucking insects. 
“They are out there,” noted Peter Bosak, Ph.D., superintendent of Cape May County’s Department of Mosquito Control, “but nothing unusual at the moment.” With 45 different species of mosquitoes in the county, the department’s goal is to “keep the nuisance level livable, and protect people from diseases.”
Lab Enables Quick Response
Toward that end, Bosak’s staff is the only county mosquito control agency within New Jersey with its own lab. This means, Bosak said, that his staff can collect mosquitoes, identify them, sort them, and know where they came from within a few days; so, if control measures are required, they can be implemented quickly. With thousands of tourists visiting the shore for as little as a day, time is of the essence to control the insects and any potential diseases.
“The county has a very big mosquito control program with lots of moving parts,” Bosak said.
One part of the mosquito control program is the surveillance done by Bosak’s staff so they know what mosquitos are in the environment. From there, they identify their lifecycle and history, pinpoint where they come from, and whether they bite people or birds. Each of the 45 species has different habits: some come out at dusk or dawn, some are active for a couple hours, some come out in the spring rather than the summer, and others feed all day or all the time. Some even can hibernate during the winter.
Managing Standing Water Is Key
“People think a mosquito is a mosquito is a mosquito, but the only basic fact is they start in the water,” said Bosak. “That’s why we have a water management program to reduce the available water for larvae to grow in. If we control the available water, it means the less mosquitoes we have, the less pesticides have to be used. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
With 56,000 acres of salt marsh throughout the county, hundreds of pools and ponds, and numerous places water can gather, weekly checks for mosquito larvae are required to stay on top of any potential problems. Recently, entomologist Kyle Rossner toured the county by helicopter and was surprised to see all the pools visible by air.
“It was amazing to see all the delinquent pools around the county, all the green water,” Rossner said. “These are perfect places for mosquito production.”
The state has a program whereby mosquito-eating fish can be obtained to live in unused pools during the summer. “It’s a free program if you meet certain criteria,” Bosak said. Anyone interested can call Bosak’s office at (609) 465-9038.
As it takes only one teaspoon of standing water for mosquitoes to breed, even a soda can in one’s trash with a small amount of liquid leftover can harbor mosquitoes. It typically only takes two to three days for their eggs to hatch and about two weeks for them to mature to an adult and be ready to reproduce.
“It’s the adult female mosquito who takes a blood meal to make eggs,” Bosak said. “They can lay 200-300 eggs at a time. They’ll lay their eggs, rest, and get another blood meal to lay more eggs. The larvae, also referred to as wrigglers or wigglers, feed on micro-organisms that float in the water. Eventually, they become adults, and the cycle repeats itself. During the warm months, it can take 5-7 days for the eggs to turn into adults.”
Hard to Predict Mosquito Season
Since the insects need water to hatch, Bosak said it’s impossible to predict whether there will be more or fewer mosquitoes this summer. “Mosquitoes depend on the precipitation a week or two before they lay their eggs,” he explained. “If July is dry, it’s likely that we’ll have less mosquitoes two weeks later.”
However, it’s later in the season, August and September, when any virus the mosquitoes carry could show up, he said, because the virus needs time to build up. “Because of our lab, we are able to test right away and are in a position to do something corrective right away,” he said.
Bosak recalls as a youngster seeing trucks drive around weekly emitting large clouds of pesticides to kill mosquito larvae over large areas of land and water. Today, there is no set schedule for mosquito spraying because the staff bases their actions on surveillance, the numbers of insects found in an area, and the number of phone calls the department receives with complaints about the insects.
“If we have a need to spray, we are going after a very specific species in a specific area at a specific time,” he said. “Anyone with a mosquito problem can call our office and we’ll send out an inspector.”
Ticks, Mosquitoes Carry Diseases
A recent report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that ticks, mosquitoes, and flea-borne diseases more than tripled since 2004 in the U.S., and more than 80 percent of local government agencies lack important control tactics. In 2014, New Jersey reported 2,589 confirmed cases of Lyme disease, ninth highest among states. In 2016, there were 3,332 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in New Jersey; although the incidence rate in Cape May County was one of the lowest in New Jersey.
Unfortunately, however, Lyme disease isn’t the only threat lurking; mosquito bites can transmit serious diseases like West Nile virus, Chikungunya, and Zika. According to Bosak, the Zika virus still has not been found circulating in New Jersey, even though one of the three mosquito species that carry Zika can be found in the state.
No monitoring of ticks takes place anywhere in the state, noted Rossner, who recently attended a state-wide conference where the potential for monitoring ticks was discussed. “Ticks are totally different from mosquitoes in terms of bio-management, pesticides, or hosts,” he pointed out.
For the most part, ticks are found lower to the ground, usually within three feet, often in shrubbery or moist spots that can surround a house. “Keep your lawn cut relatively short,” Rossner advised. “Ticks don’t like short grass. The only way to really keep ticks away is to build a four-foot wide barrier with black mulch, but that’s not very practical.”
Protect Against Tick Bites
Ticks are not airborne, so they can’t fly or attack people. They can be found on mammals such as field mice, white-tail deer, and squirrels. Gardeners, birders, and other naturalists should use a tick repellant on their clothes, according to Rossner.
“Ticks climb up,” he pointed out. “So you want to create barriers so they can’t climb up your leg, for example. Tuck your socks and shirts into your pants. Wear light-colored clothing so you can see them: they are a shade of brown.”
Because of the influx of tourists during the summer, the county Health Department is putting together and distributing “protection bags” to the 47 campgrounds across the county. These kits contain information on the insects, plus some repellants that can be used.
“The campers have the highest potential for being exposed to ticks and mosquitoes,” Public Health Coordinator Kevin Thomas said. “We suggest avoid being out at dusk, wear long pants and long sleeves. Use Deet on your clothes.”
A common misconception is that ticks are one size, but they actually have a two-year lifecycle. During the first lifecycle, the nymph stage, ticks are so small they often go undetected. They can, however, still cause Lyme disease if they attach to a host.
In fact, 70 percent of the people infected in the summer were infected by a nymph tick. Lyme disease is transmitted when the tick bites, and typically when the tick remains attached for at least 36 hours. The risk of getting Lyme disease from any given tick bite is actually rather low (1 percent), nonetheless, it is best to remove any ticks quickly or to avoid tick bites altogether.
Check Pets for Ticks Too
Thomas also advises pet owners to check their animals for ticks. “Make sure you use a flea and tick collar, but you still have to look your pet over and see if there are any ticks on the body, behind the ears, under the body where the legs connect. Any space that is a bit moist can harbor ticks.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.