Mosquito abatement program here experienced growth in '07

An Iberia Parish department is working hard to help ensure the health of parish residents.

The Iberia Parish Mosquito Abatement District has two key components — mosquito control and disease control. Specifically this means working to minimize mosquito-borne diseases and to reduce the number of “nuisance” mosquitoes throughout the parish.

The district is working to acquire property adjacent to Acadiana Regional Airport for a new facility.

“Negotiations between the parties involved continue,” said Mosquito Abatement Director Herff Jones. “The Iberia Parish Airport Authority (IPAA) has approved our application and instructed the IPAA director to engage in pre-leasing activities. If the property of primary interest is no longer available there are many options available to us.”

Jones said his department hopes to finalize the acquisition of this property in 2008 as well as to continue its surveillance and ground and aerial and to develop a “premier” public health service for residents in the parish. The district typically begins spraying in early May, depending on weather conditions and mosquito numbers.

He describes 2007 as “a year of growth” for his department.

“The progress made this year will be significant for furtherance of the program in 2008 and beyond,” he said. “The expansion of our truck-mounted, ultra-low volume ground-spraying units to a total of 10 led to over 372,000 acres sprayed and just over 500 individual citizen special spray requests being serviced.”

Jones also noted that for 2007 and 2006 there were no reported cases of West Nile Virus, St. Louis Encephalitis or Eastern Equine Encephalitis, all mosquito-borne diseases, in Iberia Parish. According to the state Department of Health and Hospitals, there were four reported West Nile Virus cases in the parish in 2005, as well as one in 2003 and two in 2002.

With expenditures that fell well within expected budget limits, the district spent a total of $882,000 last year. In 2006, it spent $743, 877, with an additional $298,266 in capital outlays for vehicle expenses and others, parish Finance Director Kimberly Segura said.

“We practice very conservative spending and responsible budget planning, which keeps us under budget for 2006, 2007 and we expect the same for 2008,” Jones said. “All surplus funds are returned to the parish and municipalities. Unfortunately, none of us can predict what nature will bring especially to a coastal parish such as Iberia Parish.”