Private Pest Control companies are joining in on the fight against Zika. Nozzle Nolen Pest Control saw a need to create a new program to target mosquitoes than can carry the Zika virus.
"There's been a quite a few problems in the past few years with dengue fever, St. Louis encephalitis, but this new with the Zika virus, it's really got people concerned," said Paul Sugrue, Technical Director and Entomologist at Nozzle Nolen. "We really put a customized program, that's much more aggressive."
The first step is inspection. Specialists will come out and find where mosquitoes are breeding in your yard. Then, they use the hand-foggers that reach all the nooks and crannies where Aedes egypti like to hide.
"The whole name of the game is to get a residual that you can get 30 to 60 days into these day time resting areas whereas those thermal foggers and ULVs that mist, they just knock down the mosquitoes that day, the next day it's business as usual." said Sugrue.
It's still important to be proactive like Lori Layton in Tequesta.
"What I do every evening is I come out here we've had so much rain that here I'm growing orchids," said Layton. "So, I will flip this over every day and come out here and get the water."
She didn't know she could hand-fog her own yard or hire a professional.
"I didn't know if I could do that or not. So, I'd like to find out about that from some companies," added Layton.
Sugrue encourages people to talk to their neighbors and expand their efforts for better results.
"The larger area you treat, the longer your results last," said Sugrue.
You can still contact your county mosquito control department if you have a complaint. The cost to hire specialist starts at 75 dollars. You could also get your own fogger for anywhere from $60 to $200.
