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A clear sky. Low 67F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

A clear sky. Low 67F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

The rented sprayer is adjustable to more effectively distribute the mist and larvicide into selected neighborhoods. Residents have been notified by mailers of the spray schedule, and have been assured that the organic-grade spray will not harm people, pets, fish, plants or even insects other than mosquito larvae.

Phurchhoki Sherpa, the scientific program director for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, tracks levels of different mosquito species in the area.

Terry Knight, public information officer for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, stands in front of shelves filled with various kinds of mosquito traps. These traps are used to monitor and control the population of mosquitos in the district.

Terry Knight, public information officer for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, starts up the A1 mist sprayer to demonstrate its operation in this file photo from late May. The new weapon designed to fight mosquito populations in urban Bakersfield was tested over the summer and its effectiveness continues to be evaluated.

Phurchhoki Sherpa, scientific program director for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, discusses the process of monitoring mosquito population levels in neighborhoods before and after distributing the larvicide. The study also includes a control neighborhood to monitor mosquito levels in an area untouched by the spray.

The Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District has new equipment that will distribute larvicide into select neighborhoods where mosquito levels will then be monitored in order to determine the efficacy of the product and its distribution method.

"On a scale of frustration and misery, this mosquito is a 10," Kern Mosquito Public Information Officer Terry Knight said of the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito. The insect can bite one person multiple times and can reproduce in quantities of water as small as a bottle cap — unlike the common Culex species, which prefers stagnant puddles, city sumps, neglected swimming pools and other breeding opportunities.

Public Information Officer of the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District Terry Knight gestures at a map of Bakersfield as he talks about the areas that will receive several rounds of larvicide spray designed to kill mosquito larvae while leaving pets, birds, humans and even other insects unaffected.

The rented sprayer is adjustable to more effectively distribute the mist and larvicide into selected neighborhoods. Residents have been notified by mailers of the spray schedule, and have been assured that the organic-grade spray will not harm people, pets, fish, plants or even insects other than mosquito larvae.

Phurchhoki Sherpa, the scientific program director for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, tracks levels of different mosquito species in the area.

Terry Knight, public information officer for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, stands in front of shelves filled with various kinds of mosquito traps. These traps are used to monitor and control the population of mosquitos in the district.

Terry Knight, public information officer for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, starts up the A1 mist sprayer to demonstrate its operation in this file photo from late May. The new weapon designed to fight mosquito populations in urban Bakersfield was tested over the summer and its effectiveness continues to be evaluated.

Phurchhoki Sherpa, scientific program director for the Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, discusses the process of monitoring mosquito population levels in neighborhoods before and after distributing the larvicide. The study also includes a control neighborhood to monitor mosquito levels in an area untouched by the spray.

The Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District has new equipment that will distribute larvicide into select neighborhoods where mosquito levels will then be monitored in order to determine the efficacy of the product and its distribution method.

"On a scale of frustration and misery, this mosquito is a 10," Kern Mosquito Public Information Officer Terry Knight said of the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito. The insect can bite one person multiple times and can reproduce in quantities of water as small as a bottle cap — unlike the common Culex species, which prefers stagnant puddles, city sumps, neglected swimming pools and other breeding opportunities.

Public Information Officer of the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District Terry Knight gestures at a map of Bakersfield as he talks about the areas that will receive several rounds of larvicide spray designed to kill mosquito larvae while leaving pets, birds, humans and even other insects unaffected.

Aedes aegypti, known in some areas of the world as the yellow fever mosquito — but known locally as "ankle-biter" — made its debut in greater Bakersfield in 2013.

At that time its numbers were quite low.

"Now they're everywhere," said Phurchhoki Sherpa, scientific program director for Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District, the special district charged with controlling mosquito populations in the southern valley.

Beginning next week, the district will try out a new strategy in limited areas in Bakersfield — and if it is successful, the project will likely be expanded.

The plan required some new equipment for the district.

"This is a truck-mounted A1 Super Duty mist blower, and its general purpose is to produce a fine mist that will be blown up into the air," the district's public information officer Terry Knight said Tuesday.

The machine, mounted on the back of a flatbed pickup, includes a large liquid storage tank, a gasoline-powered motor and a cone-shaped atomizer that can be aimed upward or to either side.

"Because of the problems we've had here in Kern County, and continue to have, with Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, we are going to use this starting next week," Knight said.

"We want to generate a plume of water (mist) and mosquito larvicide that will be distributed over the front yards and back yards of homes in residential neighborhoods," Knight said. "If wind conditions are right, this machine right here should put out a swath of about 300 feet."

The motorized atomizer mixes water with a product called VectoBac WDG, which contains Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, or Bti, a naturally occurring soil bacteria whose toxicity is limited to mosquitoes and related flies, according to the district.

Bti has no toxicity to people and pets, Knight said, and is certified for the treatment of organic crops.

As the truck moves down residential streets, the A1 mist sprayer will blow the mist mixed with larvicide up into the air, and if the wind conditions cooperate, it should cover the front and back yards of homes on both sides of the street.

The process is known as Wide Area Larvicide Spray, or WALS treatment.

The district has chosen three 1-square-mile zones, in southwest, northwest and northeast Bakersfield to spray repeatedly over the next several weeks. 

The applications are scheduled to begin Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — with application of the larvicide occurring between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

The study also includes a control neighborhood to monitor mosquito levels in an area untouched by the spray.

Mosquito levels will continually be monitored in all areas of the study in order to determine the efficacy of the product and its distribution method.

Despite the safety of the larvicide, Kern Mosquito advises residents to remain in their homes at least 30 minutes after the spray truck has passed.

"Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District informed us of this project last week," said Michelle Corson, spokeswoman for the Kern County Public Health Services Department.

"This application does not require our department’s approval," Corson said in an email, "however, it does require a permit from the Department of Agriculture and that they submit use reports to them after spraying is complete."

While the project is primarily targeting the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which has become a frustrating and sometimes painful pest in Bakersfield, the larvicide can kill larvae of the more common culex mosquito as well. The locally common Culex tarsalis and Culex quinquefasciatus can transmit West Nile virus, while the Aedes cannot.

The WALS treatments will begin on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday's application will be in the southwest zone, a square mile bordered by Panama Lane, Hosking Avenue, Stine Road and Wible Road.

The zone in Bakersfield's northeast will receive applications on Tuesdays, beginning on June 7. That area is bordered by Panorama Drive, Columbus Street, Mount Vernon Avenue and Crescent Drive.

The zone in northwest Bakersfield will see larvicide applied on Wednesdays, beginning on June 8. The area is bordered by Reina Road, Hageman Road, Jewetta Avenue and Calloway Drive.

"We will continue to monitor these areas, or do surveillance, over the course of the rest of the season," Knight said. "One thing that we're looking for is we want to see how quickly the mosquito numbers will rebound after the treatments."

Residents of the district are highly frustrated by the Aedes mosquitoes, Sherpa said, and many complain that the Aedes influx is affecting their quality of life. 

"The second reason is the potential for it to bring some kinds of diseases to our area," she said. "Luckily we don't have any so far."

Indeed, Aedes aegypti is a vector for transmitting several tropical fevers, but fortunately, most of those diseases are not active here so far.

The planned spraying may be new here, but it's not experimental.

"It has been done in many other states," Sherpa said. "They have seen positive impacts."

For more information. visit the district's website at kernmosquito.com.

Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.

Kern Mosquito's Terry Knight advises that area residents wear long sleeves and pants when outdoors. Of course, he recognizes that's not always possible, or comfortable.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests using mosquito repellents that contain DEET. It also notes that while Aedes aegypti mosquitoes most commonly feed at dusk and dawn, indoors, in shady areas, or when the weather is cloudy, "they can bite and spread infection all year long and at any time of day."

Knight suggests using the abrasive side of a kitchen sponge to scrub off eggs sticking to wet containers, including flower pots and the trays beneath them, buckets, bird baths, fish ponds, uncovered barrels and other containers left outdoors.

"Yard drains are in almost every new home here in Kern County," Knight said. "Some have several."

The message is clear. Anything that can hold standing water — from something as small as an upturned water bottle cap to a neglected swimming pool — is a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes. Destroying the eggs or limiting breeding environments is the best way to control these pests.

For more information, call Kern Mosquito at 661-589-2744.

Positive Cases Among Kern Residents: 286,398

Recovered and Presumed Recovered Residents: 273,186

Percentage of all cases that are unvaccinated: 72.25

Percentage of all hospitalizations that are unvaccinated: 83.19

Source: Kern County Public Health Services Department

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