Cass County Vector Control performs ground & aerial sprays after mosquito season peak

The mosquito count in Cass and Clay counties is the highest it has been in 2020

WEST FARGO, N.D. — After the large rainfall on August 14th, the number of mosquitoes in the area has risen significantly.

“High water conditions, particularly in the southern end of town that had higher rainfall amounts, but pretty uniformly across Cass County and Clay County, we are seeing numbers that have reached their peak for the 2020 season,” said Cass County Vector Control Director, Ben Prather.

Vector Control’s most recent count has found over 256 mosquitoes per trap. That number is by far the highest in 2020 and one of the higher numbers the area has seen in a while.

“We are really seeing counts that have peaked for the season and new records being set quite literally in certain areas,” said Prather.

As a result, Vector Control is conducting a ground and aerial spray of insecticides. Two planes flew across the metro area and 24 trucks will be drove through rural areas on Wednesday night to make for more comfortable conditions.

“The insecticide that we are using you find on fruits and vegetables and your dogs and your cows and stuff like that all are sprayed with this Permethrin,” Prather said. “Certainly nothing to be afraid of, but at this time of year in these conditions it is absolutely a necessity that we go out and do it.”

Vector Control says this may be the peak so far, but mosquito season is not over yet. They expect to have to preform several more sprays before the end of the year.

“If we get warm weather through September, we could see mosquitoes into October, but it really depends on when conditions cool off for us,” said Prather.