Treatment and control

Council's Vector Management Unit aims to keep mosquito populations to acceptable levels through various forms of treatment and control.

Council's main method of reducing mosquito populations is larviciding. Larviciding focuses on the destruction of the mosquito while in its larval form, rather than the adult stage which is more difficult to control.

Treatment is carried out in both fresh and salt water areas. Salt water areas are usually treated twice monthly depending on tidal patterns and fresh water areas are inspected and treated as larve are found.

Aerial larviciding

Council successfully introduced aerial larviciding in 2004. This method of larviciding supplements the extensive ground based larviciding program which operates all year round.

Aerial treatments are undertaken when extensive breeding occurs following king tides and high rainfall. This allows greater access to large breeding sites which can be treated in a much shorter period of time.

Council uses a helicopter to distribute environmentally friendly, target specific larviciding products which provide both immediate and residual control. Mosquito control staff monitor larvae numbers before and after treatment to determine efficiency.