Dengue fever has been a serious problem in the Tampa Bay region this year. In Hillsborough County alone, there's been over 300 cases, including the death of an 80-year-old woman.
County mosquito management has been using helicopters to spray insecticides over neighborhoods, and representatives have been going to residences to check for standing water where mosquito larvae can survive.
Last week, after a very rainy weekend, one of those workers came looking for potential dengue sources at my Seminole Heights home.
Paolo Picora is a senior environmental specialist for Hillsborough County Mosquito Management, and this year he's gone through hundreds of yards looking for Aedes aegypti, the species that transmits dengue, and other types of mischievous, disease-hauling bugs.
“I've seen million-dollar houses with active breeding everywhere, Picora says. “I've seen low-income housing with active breeding everywhere. Again, this mosquito doesn't discriminate. All that matters is the habitat. What is available for it based off container containers and water accessibility.”
Skeeter Science 101: A female Aedes becomes the “vector” when biting an infected human and acquiring the virus, then bites another person to pass on the disease.
“That's all it takes. It's just a little bit of water."Paolo Picora, senior environmental specialist for Hillsborough County Mosquito Management
“Let's start by the front door. That's my biggest concern: making sure that there's no flying vectors going into your house, biting you while you're inside your house watching TV or football,” Picora warns.
Skeeter Science 201: After a little airborne amore, the female mosquito searches for a blood meal to help her eggs develop. She then lays hundreds of them in standing water — sometimes no more than bottlecap's worth — where they hatch into larvae.
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It didn't take Picora long to identify a prime location. That third garbage can that rarely gets used. Honestly, I forgot it existed. It was filled with rainwater from recent storms.
“I'm looking right at the vector right there,” Picora points out. “I'm looking right at the mosquito. It's a male. Luckily, it's a male, so you're not gonna have to worry about that.”
All this time I was sleeping next to a potential dengue source.
“There is no potential source,” Picora corrects me. “There is a source. We're looking right at it, man. It's full of water.”
After exposing my dengue of iniquity, Paulo dumped the water from can and found even more larvae.
“That's all it takes. It's just a little bit of water,” he explains.
I couldn’t see it.
“Oh, wriggler, worm in the water,” he pointed out. “Wrigglers (larvae) and tumblers (pupae).”
And the shame would continue. Picora found other small pools of standing water in places I never even thought of: the divots of an overturned kayak, the small wheel of a grass feeder tipped on its side, even a loose palm frond that had nestled between bushes.
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And those aren't even close to the weirdest places he's found a breeding site.
“I found the skeleton of the cat in this tire pile, and inside the cat skull — upside down cavity — was active breeding of Aedes aegypti in that little bit of water.”
I wish he didn't tell me that.
“Anything and everything, Does not matter. They don't discriminate,” he emphasized.
After identifying the breeding sites, he drops tablets in the water called Natular DT. It kills the larvae, and it makes the habitat uninhabitable for the bloodsuckers going forward.
Luckily, when you're an expert, you know how to quickly identify a mosquito and exterminate it.
“I put myself in their habitat,” he said. “She came to me as a potential host, and she paid the price.”
And that was pretty much it. The whole process took about a half-hour and less shame than I expected.
One of Picora’s greatest frustrations involves residents that do want help eliminating mosquitoes sources.
“I think that's my biggest concern right now,” he said, “and I think that's the only fear I have is going into the habitat, finding the problem, finding the vector, and someone saying, "No, I don't want you here. I don't want your help."
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So don't be like that. And as you heard, some of these breeding sites are in places someone like you or me wouldn't even know to look.
So, whether it's having professionals come to your place and find breeding sites, or you do it yourself, remember this is not only protecting you from potentially getting dengue fever, but it's helping keep your neighbors and your community safe, too.
WUSF’s Rick Mayer contributed to this report
This story first aired on WUSF's “Bay Blend” podcast.
