Why Tennessee Health Departments Want People To Care About Mosquitos Before A Zika Outbreak

The early spring has launched Middle Tennessee into mosquito season. That brings a usual slew of concerns for public health departments about mosquito-borne viruses like West Nile, chikungunya and — this year — Zika. 

That’s why John Pico’s main job right now is to hunt down mosquito larvae.

He walks down a ditch on the side of the road, near the Cumberland River, and scoops up water to inspect samples. Pico works in pest control for Metro Nashville’s Health Department, and he comes often to this forested area in Pennington Bend. Water pools up in the ditch — it’s ripe for mosquito breeding.

“Look at all this,” he says, holding out a scoop of muddy water with tiny, worm-like larvae swimming around. “I want to larvicide this area.”

Part of Nashville’s mosquito prevention plan is to kill off mosquito eggs in certain public areas, like this forest in Pennington Bend. 
But Pico says the most effective breeding grounds are not these big swamps. They’re in people’s yards: potted plants, clogged gutters, bird baths, plastic toys, dog bowls — a
nything that has standing water is larvae heaven.

Many residents don’t realize they have the most control over mosquitoes, Pico says. 
“They’ve got to
 do their part for us to be able to do our part.”

Fighting White Noise

Dumping standing water should be the easiest thing for people to do, says Tim Jones, the state epidemiologist for the Tennessee Department of Health. It’s something they can do on their own for free. But he acknowledges these tips from health agencies 
become white noise after a while.

“You know, you hear that year after year, and you just sort of glaze over it and don’t do it,” he says.

State health officials try to cut through the noise by giving lectures to the medical community about mosquito-borne diseases and reaching out to mission groups that are traveling to countries where Zika is more common. They also do the obvious outreach: 
posting on social media, updating their website.

The irony is, of course, that the best publicity for a disease like Zika is a case of Zika. That’s when people start to get really interested in mosquito prevention, Jones says. 

“It is always true that the way to wake people up and make them pay attention to something is when they feel like they’re personally threatened,” he says. “So we never hope for cases, but yes, those are always an educational opportunity.”

So far this year, only one case of Zika
has been reported in Tennessee. The likelihood of catching it if you haven’t traveled overseas is quite low, Jones says. And if you do catch it, it’s usually only a problem if you’re pregnant. 
So for his department, it’s a delicate balance between getting the word out and scaring people unnecessarily.

Metro Nashville’s Backyard Inspection Days

Metro workers and volunteers are going door-to-door in parts of the city to inspect individual yards for mosquito breeding grounds. 

April 23

• Bellevue, within the boundaries of Memphis Bristol Highway/70S
  , Sawyer Brown Road, Old Harding Pike, and Morton Mill Road
• Hermitage, within the boundaries of Tyler Drive, Weber Road, Old Hickory Boulevard, and Lebanon Pike

April 30

• Bordeaux, within the boundaries of Whites Creek Road, Moormans Arm Road, Buena Vista Pike, and Briley Parkway
• Woodbine, within the boundaries of Thompson Lane, Glencliff Road, Antioch Pike, and Wingate Avenue

Those neighborhoods were chosen because they have had infestations of mosquitos in the past, according to Metro Health. For more information, call 615-340-8922.