Agency Ramps Up Its All-Out War on Dangerous Disease-Spreading Pests in Pasadena

Just as summer — and mosquito season — ramp up into full swing, the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District is bringing its search-and-destroy mission to eradicate the disease-spreading blood-suckers to Pasadena.

The stakes are high. Both the Zika and West Nile viruses are bonafide threats to people living here.

In a collaboration in the works for well over a year, the district has begun full-bore operations today after funding provided by local property taxes kicked in last week.

As a result, San Gabriel Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District vehicles and personnel will now be buzzing throughout the city, according to Operations Manager Jason Farned. Staff has already been doing limited work here to prepare for the offensive.

“Our work wasn’t funded through the property tax until this tax season, so we were just doing some preliminary invasive mosquito work there, and now we’re full steam ahead as of Monday,” Farned said. “But our technicians have been in the city for the last few months … getting their feet wet and doing some surveillance and learning the lay of the land.

District spokesman Levy Sun said residents can expect to see a “huge difference” in Pasadena in response to multiple species of invasive mosquitoes capable of carrying potentially deadly diseases.

Extensive trapping of mosquitos and testing for viruses will be ongoing constantly to allow the district to monitor for potential outbreaks.

“On top of that, our underground storm drain program is going to be rolled out and applied in Pasadena,” he said. “Our education into schools and community events will also be available to the city.”

Until now, the city has run its own mosquito abatement program, Pasadena Public Health Director Michael Johnson said. But the problem has grown more complex as the decades passed, with new species of mosquitoes carrying new and sometimes deadly illnesses into the region.

“So being part of a broader district is really beneficial for Pasadena,” Johnson said. “They’re going to be providing a broader range of public health protection.”

“Among those things they’ll be doing is treating standing water, [and] following up to complaints of standing water or mosquito breeding,” he said. “They’ll be working with the city on treating storm drains, making sure the breeding issues are not going on under the ground.”

The district is also able to provide more targeted help in the case of an especially bad mosquito problem or disease outbreak, he said.

It’s expected to cost residential property owners about $12 per year on their property tax bill, city officials said. Commercial property owners will see an increase of about $20 per year.

Authorities reported the county’s first confirmed human case of West Nile virus of the year last month. The victim lives in the San Gabriel Valley.

“ West Nile is a threat now and it will be for the foreseeable future,” Farned said. “Definitely our biggest threat here in California. Forty-something something people died last year in the state of California [from West Nile virus], and so that really is our number one priority: monitoring West Nile virus and reducing the population of mosquitoes that transmits it.”

Johnson said no human cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Pasadena this year, nor have any infected bird carcasses been discovered here.

Nine laboratory-confirmed human cases were recorded in Pasadena in 2017.

Residents can help by wearing repellant and making sure to get rid of all standing water.

“A bottle cap of water is enough to attract the mosquitoes, especially if it has stagnant water, but everything from bottle caps to uncovered recyclables, even clutter around the home, Sun said. “So definitely look around the home and inside the home for that kind of source”

“And especially now with all the different types of mosquitoes that we have,” Farned added. “There’s pretty much a mosquito for every environment. So whether it’s a large property, natural environment, urban environment, multi-unit housing, mosquitoes find a way to grow in all of those places.”

With the addition of Pasadena, the district now provides vector control services in 26 cities.

More information about how to protect yourself and your family is available here: https://www.sgvmosquito.org/i-am-a-resident