CITY OF WARREN TO TREAT 17,500 CITY CATCH BASINS FOR THE SECOND MOSQUITO CONTROL APPLICATION

by | Sep 16, 2020 | Announcements, Community Development, James Fouts, Mayor, Safety Initiatives

The second application of a mosquito control repellant has been applied to 17,500 city catch basins. (First in the Spring, Second in late Summer/early Fall)

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts directed DPW employees to apply the briquette repellant to all city catch basins.  “We are more aggressive at treating than any other City in the area.” Said Mayor Fouts.

Homeowners who want a mosquito briquette placed in a backyard catch basin or swimming pool should contact DPW at 586-759-9270.

“As every Warren family continues to face the challenges that come from protecting themselves from the Coronavirus they need to also be protected from other threats.  That’s why I’m determined to do everything I can to provide Warren citizens with extensive measures to protect them against West Nile Virus, Zika and Eastern Equine Enchephalitis (EEE), and other mosquito and tick-related illnesses,” said Fouts.

According to Fouts, The Center for Disease Control has identified at least nine diseases that have been discovered or introduced since 2004.  These type of illnesses have grown from 27,000 per year to nearly 100,000 per year in a ten-year period.

Over the last decade, Michigan has experienced the second largest state for deaths due to West Nile Virus.  Mayor Fouts is seeking to protect Warren from experiencing any uncontrolled West Nile outbreak, Zika, or Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), to defend against a large number of deaths and even more serious health effects on individuals. The state health department has reported 20 confirmed cases of EEE.

A dedicated outdoor runner, Warren Mayor James Fouts offered the following guidance to the City’s residents:

• Avoid outdoors from dusk to dawn without protection.
• Cover up even when it’s hot.  If you are going for a hike in the woods, wear long pants, shirt sleeves, shoes and socks.  Spraying shoes with Permethrin can be effective.  Hats in the woods is a good idea too.  Avoid any skin exposure.
• Use insect repellent to exposed skin or clothing.  Repellent types:  DEET, Picardin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or para-methane-diol (PMD) or 2-undecanone.
• Minimize exposure in your home and backyard.  Make sure screen windows don’t have a hole in them that allow mosquitoes.  Check your backyard/front yard for mosquito breeding places such as flower pots, bottle caps, tires, kiddie pools, buckets, and other such places for standing water.  A mosquito can breed in a bottle cap.
• West Nile adversely affects the very old and very young but anyone with a compromised immune system can die from it.  And it can make you very very sick, regardless of age.  Zika virus can damage the unborn and causes babies not to develop intellectually beyond six months. EEE can in some rare cases lead to brain damage, a coma, or even death.

Under the leadership of Mayor Fouts, the City of Warren has been leading the way in protecting against the spread of COVID-19.  Just as we need to listen to the guidance of health professionals to practice social distancing and using face coverings in public places, we also need to protect against the spread of mosquito borne diseases like West Nile Virus.  Mayor Fouts stands ready to lead and assist Warren residents in the protection of their families.

“This danger will go away after two hard frosts in late September or October. Most deaths from mosquitoes occur in the early fall not summer. So this is the time to be alert and prepared. With the warming of our planet this will become more common later in the fall. Avoid any mosquito bite if you can”!