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Officials including Public Health Sanitarian Mike Luke, Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell and Interim Health Commissioner Michael Nesheiwat, M.D. They discussed the importance of residents dumping all standing water. The health department is deploying mosquito traps around the county and will send samples for testing at the state's Wadsworth Lab in Albany.
Officials also are looking at what mosquitos are in Putnam County and what diseases they carry, if any. The only known transmitter of Zika virus is the the Aedes aegypti and it has never been found in Putnam, officials said. The Asian Tiger mosquito, the Aedes albopictus, has only been captured once here in 2006, but it is still questionable whether or not it can transmit the Zika virus, officials said. Odell reminded residents that public support is an important and necessary part of any mosquito-control program.
Mosquito Control Day is a call to action for residents to dump standing water on their property now — and weekly throughout the summer, especially after it rains. Personal protection, in the form of mosquito repellent with DEET, also is highly advised.
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