Mosquito Larvicide Pick Up for Communities

ATTN RI municipalities – help take the sting out of summer: DEM will be providing a limited FREE supply of mosquito larvicide to communities next Wednesday, May 31 from 9 AM - 3 PM at the University of Rhode Island’s East Farm campus, Building 75, in South Kingstown to help control mosquito populations statewide. The larvicide product, called FourStar, is a briquette that releases environmentally-benign bacteria over a 90-day period, requiring only one application per season. The FourStar briquets are placed in underground stormwater catchment basins that are prime breeding areas of mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus (WNV), killing the mosquitoes in the larval stage.

DEM and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) recommend that cities and towns treat all underground catchment basins with larvicide. Larviciding is recommended as part of RI’s action plan for WNV and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and considered an effective strategy to reduce mosquito populations and related disease risk. The state's annual surveillance for mosquito-borne diseases begins next week. Mosquitoes collected by DEM statewide are tested for EEE and WNV by RIDOH’s State Health Laboratories. Results are reported weekly through early October.

“The continued participation of municipal DPW personnel in this voluntary larvicide application is an important part of the state’s strategy to reduce the risk of the residents of Rhode Island’s communities from contracting mosquito-borne diseases, particularly in urban environments,” said State Mosquito Abatement Coordinator Al Gettman.

DEM’s larvicide distribution program began in 2000 when WNV was first detected in Rhode Island. Funding for the distribution is provided by DEM and additional product is available for purchase directly from the distributor. For mosquito control tips, please visit: http://www.dem.ri.gov/mosquito/ and http://health.ri.gov/mosquito.