Mosquito control has one mission with a singular purpose, to prevent mosquito-borne diseases from affecting the citizens of Brunswick County. At its most basic level, a good disease program has a strong mosquito surveillance and nuisance program that enhances the quality of life for the citizens of the county.

Operation Services' mosquito experts conduct a year-round surveillance and monitoring program throughout the county. Every type of breeding habitat is continuously monitored for species type, time of emergence, and population size. This information is recorded in our database, which contains extensive information about each species. Brunswick County has 43 different mosquito species. Follow the link to learn more about the Mosquitoes of Brunswick County. Monitoring and surveillance helps Operation Services determine the most effective method of managing a mosquito population. The control strategies we employ include:

Public Education: Our program staff visits schools, community groups, and property owner's associations meetings to provide educational materials to groups interested in learning about mosquitoes and mosquito control in Brunswick County. We also have a brochure to educate citizens about the Asian tiger mosquito. To contact our community out reach staff, call 910-253-2507 or send us an email at Mosquito Control Public Education Program.

Biological Control: The mosquito fish Gambusia affinis are relocated to mosquito breeding sites to consume mosquito larvae.

Physical Control: Drainage ditches are created for areas with standing water, thereby reducing the area suitable for mosquito breeding. Visit this link to the Operation Services Mosquito Control Water Management web site.

Adult Control: Clarke Mosquito Control products are used to manage adult mosquito populations. Ground spraying generally occurs every 2 weeks, or every 4-5 days depending on existing mosquito populations. Typical spray times are between 6:00 PM - 12:00 AM, or 4:00 AM - 7:00 AM (especially the beach areas when fewer people are walking and environmental conditions are better). As a precautionary measure, people and pets should go indoors when they see the mosquito sprayer coming. People with severe allergies should notify Operation Services.

Larval Control: Involves treating breeding areas with larvicides to manage mosquito populations before they can mature into adults. Four products are used by the county:

• BTI Donuts (a bacterial product) - Brunswick County residents can obtain from Operation Services, while supplies last. Follow the link to see the instructions for use.
• Altosid - an insect growth regulating hormone specific to mosquitoes, applied in granule formulation by spreading over mosquito habitats by 'hand' or using a seeder.
• Agnique - an alcohol based oil that is applied by hand-spray units. This biodegradable film suffocates mosquito larvae and pupae.
• Abate - is an organophosphate product used for managing mosquitoes in tire piles and environmentally sensitive areas.

Mosquito surveillance is based on a transect line that runs from Calabash to Belville. To see the current weekly mosquito activity in your area, click on the Calabash, Bolivia or Belville links. Because mosquito populations are dictated by weather conditions, we also maintain a weather data base. We monitor the four National Weather Stations that surround the county. Data is collected daily and translated to, weekly, monthly and annual formats. The weather data is reconciled using a weekly format to be overlaid onto our mosquito data. We are in the process of developing a long term historical database of the mosquito species in Brunswick County.

Our goal is to provide our data set to the municipal mosquito programs in the county. Brunswick County currently has 13 mosquito programs, the County Program and 12 municipal programs. Follow the link to see the contact information for the Municipal Mosquito Control Programs in your area.