News

    Ocean Ridge is hardening its defenses against Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, the two mosquito species known to transmit the Zika virus.
    During the Sept. 12 town meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a new $62,890 contract with Clarke Environmental Mosquito Management Inc. to provide no-see-um and mosquito control services with emphasis on the Zika breeds.
    The contract calls for 36 backpack spraying treatments over the next year, and Clarke also will begin targeting the Zika mosquitoes with 26 scheduled truck spraying treatments between 3:45 and 4:45 a.m., street by street.
    Robert Santana, a Clarke consultant, told commissioners the company will use chemicals and application techniques that do minimal harm to bees and other beneficial species. He said the chemical spray will dissipate by sunrise, when the bees become active and fly off to do their work.
    Santana told the commission that the Zika mosquitoes are “container breeders,” meaning they do not like to breed in swamps and puddles but prefer to lay their eggs on the inside rims of containers such as buckets, cups and even bottle caps with standing water.
    Clarke has worked extensively in Miami-Dade County neighborhoods, including Wynwood and Miami Beach, the first United States locations with active transmission of mosquito-borne Zika.
— Dan Moffett