‘hostile’ manholes and sterile males: the fight against mosquitoes begins in Bologna
The treatments, which began in April, will be carried out on a monthly basis until early October
BOLOGNA –They ‘love’ manholes, where rainwater accumulates: they are the favorite place for mosquitoes to lay their eggs and so we try to make them as ‘uncomfortable’ or inhospitable as possible . Every month the Municipality of Bologna places a larvicide in over 90,000 manholes in public areas (for example schools and parks) and in road drains, the cracks found on the edge of pavements. All monitored by an electronic satellite system to know in real time the streets and public areas treated and to check their effectiveness. Larvicidal treatments in the canals are carried out every 15 days. And “it can be stated that over 95% of municipal manholes do not generate mosquitoes”, claims Palazzo D’Accursio. Is it enough to farm them? No. And so this year too we are using the new technique of releasing sterile male tiger mosquitoes into the environment: they are harmless, they don’t bite but by mating with the females they make them incapable of laying fertile eggs and therefore block playback. The Crevalcore Environment Agriculture Center takes care of it and the intervention goes in parallel with the treatment of manholes in public areas and private courtyards with organic products in collaboration with citizens.
The “fight” plan against the tiger mosquito includes a “door-to-door” visit to private courtyards, with removal of outbreaks, biological larvicidal treatment and free delivery of a larvicidal product. The door-to-door campaign serves, explains the Municipality, to “reduce the productivity of mosquitoes in the area in order to contain the number of sterile males to be released”. Which will ‘take off’ twice a week (approximately Monday and Thursday), from May to the end of September, from a car recognizable by a flashing light and identification plates. To be precise, between 50 and 120 thousand sterile males produced in the breeding of the Environment Agriculture Center will be released.
And, apparently, it works: the combined provisions of the treatment with biological processes of manholes in public areas and private courtyards in collaboration with citizens, together with the release of sterile males, revealed – in the first four years of experimentation – a reduction in the density of fertile tiger mosquito eggs by 55-60%, confirming the validity of prevention based on integrated biological warfare “and on collaboration between citizens and administration”. The ‘campaign’ of the Municipality of Bologna is therefore ready again this year to contain the proliferation of the tiger and common mosquitoes. The treatments, which began in April, will be carried out on a monthly basis until early October. The administration recalls that the mosquito is a seasonal insect that can be contained particularly when it is in a larval state, while it is much more difficult to do so when the insect is an adult, “requiring insecticides that are more toxic and harmful”.
The help of private individuals is fundamental “without which even the actions implemented by the administration in public areas would be nullified”: they must avoid water stagnation and treat the manholes on a monthly basis (from April to October) using larvicidal products. The products and information on their use are available in municipal pharmacies and those associated with Federfarma. The products are also available in large-scale retail trade and specialized shops. In condominiums, in areas where there are productive activities and in any outdoor social space, private owners can carry out prevention independently or by commissioning a company.
Thanks to the support of the voluntary ecological guards, citizens can also stipulate with the Municipality of the Collaboration Agreements and receive the free organic product necessary to carry out two larvicidal treatments. But the collaboration agreement must not involve just one condominium, but rather at least five large buildings or eight if small.
A specific ordinance will also this year provide for rules in the event of resorting to adult-killing interventions with the issuing of insecticide in the atmosphere. The objective of the ordinance is to encourage preventive larvicidal treatments. An emergency intervention should be implemented only in case of real necessity, when the number of mosquitoes is very high, because it reduces the presence of adult insects only for a short time, costs more and has a greater impact on the environment. ‘environment. When an owner needs to carry out adulticidal surgery, he must notify the local health authority at least five days in advance by filling out the online form. It is necessary to attach a declaration indicating the area where you intend to carry out the intervention, the day and the time. Adulticidal treatments in private spaces must also comply with certain requirements and methods of execution. Such as indicating that we will proceed with signs and carrying out treatments at sunset or at night or in the early hours of the morning; In areas where imported cases of disease have been recorded (spread of viruses such as Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika), the Municipality carries out widespread treatment in public and private areas within 24 hours of the report (as required by the National Surveillance Plan) or in places of evening turnout of people (if West Nile virus is present).