Pork Producers Advised to Watch for and Eliminate Standing Stagnant Water to Mitigate Mosquito Risk

An entomologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service suggests vigilance in eliminating sources of standing water in and around swine farms will help reduce the risks posed by mosquitos.This year’s unusual rainfall during the spring and summer has provided ideal conditions for explosive mosquito population growth.

A webinar yesterday co-hosted by the Swine Health Information Center and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians examined "Mitigation Strategies for Mosquitos as an Emerging Threat to Swine Health" and looked at managing mosquitos in and around swine farms and best control practices to reduce the impact of insect bites on pork production.

Dr. Dustin Swanson, with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, says one to two weeks after periods of high rainfall is when you'll see a noticeable peak in the adult mosquito population.

Quote-Dr. Dustin Swanson-USDA Agricultural Research Service:

Most of us have probably experienced mosquitos in the past.If you haven't you've been very lucky or very sheltered, one of the two because most of us have experienced at least the adult biting stage of mosquitos at some point in our lives.Most of us have some idea about where occur.

They're usually going to be in some kind of stagnant water that doesn't have an abundance of predators like fish.It could be pond habitats, kind of marshy with lots of vegetation, it could be pools along a stream in the rocks but a lot of times the ones we encounter the most are kind of as a result of our own activity where we might have water flower pots or water standing in wheel barrows or just drainage runoff from various activities.All of these are great habitats for mosquitos to breed in.

Dr. Swanson says, an inch, to two inches or three inches of rain that results in standing water would be something to be on the lookout for.
The Mosquito Mitigation Strategies webinar can be accessed at swinehealth.org.