Millions of mosquito eggs laid across southeast Texas after Hurricane Ike hit the coast last summer are waiting for the little bit of rain and hot summer days they need to hatch. That's got the man whose job it is to fight the bugs worried – he's already running out of money.

Lee Chastant is predicting a bumper crop of the always annoying and sometimes deadly pests. And even in places where dwindling tax revenues haven't forced mosquito control budget cuts, they're concerned about keeping up with the summer swarm.

"We're funded by county taxes, but by the end of last month, I'd blown through my whole chemical budget," said Chastant, a veteran mosquito fighter from Beaumont. "And we're just now hitting the mosquito season."

West Nile virus, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, infected more than 1,300 and killed 44 people last year. Already, the virus has sickened people in South Dakota and Colorado this year.

Keith Wardlaw, president of the West Central Mosquito and Vector Control Association, said he's hearing about funding cuts in many states. The program he oversees in Laramie, Wyo., had its budget cut by 10 percent.

When budget cuts happen, people running mosquito control programs have few choices: Cut back on the chemicals needed to tame the bugs or the number of people who go out to spray them. Either choice raises fears of bigger bug populations.

Chastant got $700,000 this year to spray for bugs as director of Jefferson County's mosquito control district. Normally, that would be enough. But the county east of Houston was socked with rain by Ike and Hurricane Rita in 2005, leaving behind plenty of standing water in which the mosquitoes thrived and left behind millions of eggs.

"What we're finding out, the year after a hurricane is bad," Chastant said. "Those eggs are like tiny little time bombs. ... Then bunches of mosquitoes are looking for blood at the same time. ... Each female is capable of laying 200 eggs. So, do the math."

Chastant's crews usually spray about 1.3 million acres a year. This year, they're trying to figure out how to cover twice as much ground.

"We're trying to get some more [money] from the feds," he said. "We're going to have to have more chemical budget. ... We're going to have to more overtime, more aircraft maintenance, more hours we're flying."

The Associated Press

Print

Create A Screen Name

Screen names can only consist of letters and numbers.
Your screen name will appear to everyone.
NOTE: You cannot change, delete,
or edit your screen name once you hit "Save".

---

Leave Comment

Having problems seeing comments?

Close

Supported Browsers

• Internet Explorer 7+
• FireFox 3+
• Safari

If you are using Internet Explorer 7, make sure Phishing Filter is turned off by going to Tools / Phishing Filter / Turn Off Automatic Website Checking.

If you are using Internet Explorer 8, make sure InPrivate Filtering is turned off and InPrivate Filtering data has been cleared. To turn off InPrivate Filtering go to Tools / InPrivate Filtering Settings, select the "off" button and click "OK".

To clear InPrivate Filtering data

• Go to Tools / Internet Options
• Click on the "Delete" button in the center of the General tab.
• Make sure "Preserve Favorites website data" is unchecked.
• Make sure "InPrivate Filtering data" is checked
• Click the "Delete" button.
• Click the "OK" button to exit the internet options window.
• Refresh the page

Guidelines: We welcome your thoughts, but for the sake of all readers, please refrain from the use of obscenities, personal attacks or racial slurs. All comments are subject to our terms of service and may be removed. Repeat offenders may lose commenting privileges.

You must be logged in to contribute. Log in | Register Now!

You are logged in as screenname | Log Out

You are logged in, but do not have a "screen" name. Create a Screen Name