Winnebago County Health Department Needs Community Mosquito Help
The Winnebago County Health Department (WCHD) is looking for local resident volunteers to help protect their neighborhoods from the nasty little biters.
The WCHD has even come up with a cool title for those who want to help out in their neighborhoods: Mosquito Captains!
The Winnebago County Health Department (WCHD) is asking residents to take steps to protect their families and their neighbors from West Nile virus (WNV), an illness spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. WNV can cause severe illness or even death in some people. There are no vaccines to prevent or medications to treat WNV in people. The current weather conditions are favorable for mosquito breeding and WNV.
Those wishing to become Mosquito Captains can help out the WCHD's efforts by:
- Providing information to their neighbors on the 3 Rs: Reduce, Repel, Report
- Looking for areas that mosquitoes may breed in their neighborhood, such as areas of standing water, and reporting these areas to WCHD
- Letting WCHD know if their neighborhood has a lot of mosquitoes, so that WCHD can collect, identify, and test for WNV
- Reporting dead birds in their neighborhood to WCHD
If you’re interested in being a Mosquito Captain this year, call WCHD at 815-720-4100 for more information. Residents may notice mosquito traps around their neighborhoods. Call WCHD at 815-720-4100 if you have questions about these traps or notice that a trap has been disturbed.