LEONARDTOWN, MD (August 9, 2016) – The St. Mary’s County Health Department has developed a Toolkit that Homeowners’ Associations and housing communities can use to launch a Neighborhood Mosquito Source Reduction Campaign. In addition to being a general nuisance, mosquitos are known to cause various illnesses such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus disease. A Mosquito Source Reduction Campaign helps neighborhoods decrease local mosquitos by getting homeowners to remove sources of mosquito breeding in their yards.
Homeowners’ Association volunteers or others coordinating a neighborhood campaign could share information with their neighbors about how to reduce mosquitoes. Campaigns could also involve neighborhood volunteers going door-to-door in their communities to help property owners detect and address mosquito breeding sites.
The Neighborhood Mosquito Source Reduction Campaign Toolkit contains outreach materials, template letters to property owners, sample community newsletter articles, and additional information to address neighborhood mosquito control. The Toolkit materials are available electronically at www.smchd.org/mosquito-control.
The health department is also conducting in-person workshops for those interested in implementing a neighborhood mosquito source reduction campaign. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
- August 15: Bay District Volunteer Fire Department, Lexington Park (6:30 – 7:30 p.m.)
- August 22: Charlotte Hall Library, Charlotte Hall (6:30 – 7:30 p.m.)
- August 29: St. Mary’s County Health Department, Leonardtown (6:30 – 7:30 p.m.)
For more information about implementing a neighborhood mosquito source reduction campaign in your community, please visit www.smchd.org/mosquito-control or call the health department’s Environmental Health Division at 301-475-4321.
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