TULSA, Okla. — Recently, wet and muggy conditions hit Oklahoma.
It is a slight taste of what is ahead this summer, which brings mosquitoes.
The Tulsa Health Department is well prepared for them.
The Tulsa Health Department's Environmental Health and Epidemiology programs use many tools to control the mosquito population, starting with education.
“That’s going to be our first line of defense,” Michael Morrison, vector control coordinator at the Tulsa Health Department, said.
Morrison has the monumental task of understanding the mosquito population and planning how to manage it.
Not only because the insects can be highly frustrating but also because they can spread disease, like West Nile.
The health department runs a "surveillance program" to know if mosquito-borne illnesses exist in our community.
They use a trap that collects the insects.
“Going out and capturing them and bringing them back and testing them, tells us where West Nile may be prevalent within Tulsa County,” Morrison said.
If the health department notices an illness, Morrison said the experts get to work.
“If we find high concentrations of West Nile, we go out with one of our mosquito trucks and we will perform an adulticide application in the evening and that will help bring the population down in that area,” Morrison said.
Abhishek Shakya, an epidemiologist with the Tulsa Health Department, echoed Morrison’s highlighting of education.
“We want to make sure that if there’s any kind of positive trap samples out there in the community, people are informed of that, and they are taking those necessary precautions,” Shakya said.
While they get to work, Shakya said there are some simple things we all can do to help, including avoiding standing water.
“Especially when you see that in your backyard,” Shakya said. “If you have any kind of standing water out there. That’s where mosquitoes can breed. “
And, he said, it is not just the big bodies of water or puddles.
“When breeding on standing water, they can breed in areas like on a tablespoon on water,” Shakya said.
He also said to wear long clothing, if possible, and use that insect repellant.
For more details on the Tulsa Health Department’s pest-control operations, visit its website here.
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