LOLO — West Nile virus was recently detected in mosquitoes in Eastern Montana, although there are only two confirmed instances of mosquitoes carrying the virus.
Detecting various mosquito-borne illnesses takes a lot of work, and in Missoula County, staff spend all summer trapping and testing mosquitoes to keep track of what diseases they may contain.
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“West Nile, while uncommon, is life-threatening. It's a scary disease. We want to make sure that it isn't a problem here. So keeping on top of that, minimizing mosquito populations when possible and reasonable,” said Clarissa Orton, AIS Coordinator for Missoula County’s Department of Ecology and Extension.
Orton says that throughout the summer, the Lolo Mosquito District, the only mosquito district in Missoula County created in 1978, is constantly monitoring mosquitoes through carbon-dioxide traps.
This allows them to then send the collected mosquitoes to a lab at Montana State University to be tested for diseases.
“So 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., they will be running. And they'll be producing CO2, attracting mosquitoes. And even if we don't have the catch bag, so even if we're not species IDing them, they still will be trapping and catching mosquitoes every night,” said Orton.
Orton says they catch anywhere from a couple dozen to a couple hundred mosquitoes every night, which are later sent off for testing.
Then later, the mosquito district staff will determine if things like fogging and larvaciting, essentially poisoning mosquitoes and their larva, are needed.
“That's exactly why we're keeping track of that, just to make sure that if there is a higher amount of a vector species present, then we can go and treat,” said Orton.
Orton also says that all of the mosquito district’s efforts are ultimately for the community of Lolo.
“That's part of the reason why we have an education and outreach component too, is so that we can tell the community of Lolo how to reduce the potential habitat sources for mosquitoes,” said Orton.
If you’re interested in staying up to date on the mosquito district's happenings, head to its website to sign up for alerts.
