PARMA, Ohio — It’s mosquito season and with that comes health and safety concerns, especially this year. The Ohio Department of Health reports that the West Nile Virus rate is the highest it’s been in the state since 2012.
Mason Leuthauser’s primary role in the summer at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health can be summarized by three words: Stop Mosquitos Now.
“It’s really important because we’ve had outbreaks in the past,” Leuthauser said. “We want to learn from the past to try to prevent outbreaks in the future.”
Leuthauser is in charge of the mosquito control program.
“The first step is to find an ideal trap site,” he said. “You’re looking for an area that’s out of the way. Lots of vegetation around and standing water.”
From there, Leuthaser sets the trap.
“Then we take the mosquitoes, freeze them, put them in tubes and ship them to the Ohio Department of Health for disease testing,” said Leuthauser.
So far this year, the Ohio Department of Health has tested nearly 343,000 mosquitoes statewide. Of those, 1,477 came back positive for West Nile virus. 134 of those were from Cuyahoga County.
“It’s an important public health issue because mosquitoes can bite anybody,” Leuthauser said. “These diseases can affect young and old. It’s highly preventable. That’s why we try to get involved with a lot of our outreach.”
Leuthaser’s team also sprays larvicide in locations where they capture a lot of mosquitoes to prevent further breeding. He said it’s important for the public to join the effort.
“Do your own part on your property, if it’s holding water for a long time, you want to get rid of it,” he explained. “Tires, pots, gutters, anything that holds water can breed mosquitoes.”
As a public health initiative, Leuthauser takes pride in the mosquito control program and its mission to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne disease.
“A lot of what we do in environmental health is enforcement, this is quite the opposite,” he said. “You’re just going out and trying to help people. The importance is you want to prevent disease and the burden of disease from spreading.”
You can find out more information on ways to get involved in the effort on the Cuyahoga County Board of Health’s website.
Jack Berney
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