Local
After Brevard’s flood, standing water has sat long enough to breed mosquitoes
Brevard is under a mosquito-borne illness advisory after a local dengue case. Here is what the latest state report shows, what to drain this week, the symptoms to watch for and how to reach Mosquito Control.
More than a week after the Nov. 1–2 flood, any water still standing in yards, gutters and containers has been there longer than state health officials say mosquitoes need to breed. Brevard was already under a mosquito-borne illness advisory after a locally acquired dengue case.
What the latest state report shows
The most recent Florida Department of Health arbovirus report covers Oct. 25–31. As of Tuesday, Nov. 10, the next weekly report had not been posted.
Florida: 524 locally acquired dengue cases this year in 12 counties, 39 of them reported that week. Most are in Hillsborough (407) and Pinellas (80).
Brevard: one locally acquired case, type DENV-2, with onset in September, plus four of the state’s 382 travel-associated cases.
Brevard sentinel chickens this year: 18 positive for West Nile virus, three for Eastern equine encephalitis and one for St. Louis encephalitis, including two West Nile positives from samples collected Oct. 15–16. No human cases of those three diseases are listed for Brevard.
On Oct. 16 the Florida Department of Health in Brevard County announced the confirmed local dengue case and said it and Brevard County Mosquito Control were coordinating enhanced monitoring “as well as targeted mosquito treatment and overnight spraying.”
Why standing water matters now
Mosquitoes lay eggs in and near standing water, and as little as a teaspoon or bottle cap of water standing more than a week is enough for them to breed, the state’s prevention poster says. Dengue spreads mainly through Aedes aegypti and also Aedes albopictus, both present in Florida. Mosquitoes can live indoors and bite at any time of day or night.
Salt-marsh mosquitoes work on their own clock: their eggs sit in soil just above the water line and hatch five to seven days after rain or tides raise the water, Brevard Mosquito Control says. Even when treatments kill 90%, new broods can hatch the next day.
What to do around your home
At least once a week, empty or cover anything that holds water: buckets, toys, child pools and pool covers, birdbaths, trash and recycling bins, boat or car covers, roof gutters, coolers, pet dishes and tires.
Fill in or drain puddles and ruts, and keep drains, ditches and culverts clear.
Throw out old tires; you can put out at least two a week with the trash.
Stay inside at dawn, dusk and early evening when you can, and wear long sleeves and long pants outside.
Use an EPA-registered repellent with DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol or 2-undecanone, following the label.
Repair holes in window and door screens.
Symptoms and when to call a doctor
Dengue symptoms appear three to 14 days after an infected mosquito’s bite: sudden fever, severe headache, eye pain, muscle and joint pain (hence the nickname “breakbone fever”) and bleeding, sometimes with vomiting or diarrhea. They usually last four to seven days and are often mistaken for flu. Dengue is rarely fatal, but a rarer, severe form can be fatal if not recognized and treated with supportive care.
Contact a health care provider if you think you or a family member might have dengue, and don’t take aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the health department advises. There’s no specific treatment, but quickly recognizing and managing symptoms and complications is effective at preventing deaths.
Getting help from Mosquito Control
Brevard Mosquito Control will make a site visit to look for breeding sites on your property; request one by phone or through the county’s online Customer Service Form. Call (321) 264-5032 north of Wickham Road or (321) 952-4523 south of it. For that night’s scheduled spray areas, check the county’s spray-area map or call (321) 264-5032, ext. 1, updated daily after 4 p.m. Truck and aerial spraying stops during active rain or when winds exceed 10 to 15 mph.
321 Daily did not find a flood-specific spraying notice from Mosquito Control dated after Nov. 1. The Oct. 16 health advisory remains the latest official local notice of targeted treatment.
Based on Florida Department of Health reports, advisories and guidance, and Brevard County Mosquito Control pages. 321 Daily did not seek comment for this story.
