Officials Recruiting Community Members to Help Fight Mosquitoes

The San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District is recruiting an army of volunteers in the war against disease-spreading insects.

Through the Bite Back program, residents within the district service area can sign up to join the campaign to cut down on the population of mosquitoes, which can carry diseases such as West Nile virus and the Zika virus, according to District spokesman Levy Sun.

“We have heard over the years that a lot of residents want to be more involved with mosquito control and help educate the neighbors, but there never was an outlet or a program designed for them,” Sun said. “So early last year, we started developing this Bite Back program and we tested that with some of our residents and it just took off from there.”

It’s been especially successful in Pasadena, he said.

“Fifty percent of all of our Bite Back Champions are from Pasadena,” Sun said. “I’m very proud of Pasadena residents right now, considering how we cover 26 cities, and half of our champions are from the city of Pasadena.”

Residents can choose from three different levels of involvement, Sun said.

Those without a lot of time to invest can sign up to simply receive email updates from the District, he said.

“The second thing they can do is receive a Bite Back kit, which includes door hangers, and they can then pass it out to their neighbors in their neighborhood,” Sun said.

“And the third activity that people can sign up for is becoming Bite Back Captains,” he said. “So these are essentially block captains and they will lead their neighborhoods to a more bite-free community. And that requires just a simple 30-minute orientation.”

Groups periodically organize “Block the Bite Inspection Parties” to go out into their neighborhoods and get rid of sources of mosquitoes, such as standing water, in which the insects breed.

“One key thing that really draws a lot of people into this program is we teach them how we do mosquito control and we basically make them experts, too,” Sun said. “We ask every resident who signs up and joins us to not reach for a can of pesticide. Instead reach for the stagnant water, toss it out and protect yourself using repellent and other non-chemical solutions.”

“I have told residents that if they can’t eliminate the water from a source, they can use mineral oil,” he said. “It sits on a surface and it will suffocate the mosquito underneath the water. Or they can buy an organic pesticide called Bti and apply it to the water and it will only target the mosquitoes. In fact, that’s what we predominantly use in mosquito control.”

More information and a sign-up form are available online at bitebackchampion.org.