About a dozen agents at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have signed up for the organization’s new Zika Challenge, and members can sign up until Friday.
The program is meant to prepare the institute’s faculty and all Florida residents to fight mosquitoes, especially as the Zika virus continues to gain attention, said Ken Gioeli, an extension agent in St. Lucie County.
The program is called a challenge because agents will need to train and pass an exam to receive their Public Health Pest Control license — the equivalent of a license for someone who specializes in mosquito control, Gioeli said.
He said it also challenges the community by encouraging residents to learn more about mosquitoes and to use products that UF considers effective for killing mosquitoes.
“Everybody has a responsibility to manage mosquitoes on their own property,” he said.
Mosquitoes are known to carry many other diseases aside from the Zika virus, and homeowners, Gioeli said, should know how to manage mosquito breeding.
Mosquitoes use places such as gutters, birdbaths and planters to breed. Such places may seem unusual, but larvae often live in them, he said.
Anita Neal, the director of the institute’s St. Lucie County Extension Office, said Gioeli helped form the Zika Challenge to educate agents, who will then educate the public.
“We’re like the first responders,” she said. “People call on us to ask questions.”
With constant reminders and new information, managing mosquitoes could become second nature, she said.
“You get in a habit, like brushing your teeth and turning the water off,” she said.
Dr. Roxanne Connelly, a professor of medical entomology, said the Zika virus is spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes.
Humans can also pass the virus to each other, she said. Infected men can transfer the virus through sex, and mothers can pass it to a fetus.
Though nobody has contracted Zika on U.S. soil, 820 infected people have returned with the virus from abroad, Connelly said. As of press time, Florida accounts for 223 cases.
She said Florida, Hawaii and Texas have the highest risk of a Zika outbreak because of two particularly dangerous mosquito breeds, which also spread diseases such as Chikungunya virus, dengue fever and yellow fever.
The Zika Challenge, she said, “will work to reduce mosquitoes, prevent mosquito bites and prevent mosquito-borne diseases” by licensing its agents, using social media, publishing news articles and offering public training events.
A list of local extension offices and effective mosquito repellents can be found at solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu.
