Many local residents probably don’t know that a high-end mosquito repellent area defends them from small enemies in their own backyard.
Anastasia’s Mosquito Control District serves St. Johns County and has flourished over the years – it is also led by a scientist who recently received one of the most prestigious awards in mosquito control.
District Executive Director Rui-De Xue received the American Mosquito Control Association’s Medal of Honor this year, the association’s highest honor. It is awarded to individuals judged by their peers for having made outstanding contributions in the field of mosquito control.
Coming soon:Plans are buzzing for a multimillion-dollar mosquito museum in St. Johns County
How much does this house cost? :Small repairers listed between $259,000 and $349,000 in St. Johns County
“We wouldn’t be where we are now without Dr. Xue’s contribution and his tenacity and absolute commitment, and his vision,” said Anastasia Mosquito Control District Commissioner Jeanne Moeller, who was on the board for approximately 16 years.
The Anastasia Mosquito Control District provides mosquito control services throughout the county, both to kill mosquitoes, reduce their population, and prevent disease through treatment, surveillance, research, and education. ‘education.
The district is separate from the county government, collecting its own taxes and controlling its own operations through Xue and a board of commissioners.
The district headquarters is located at 120 EOC Drive in St. Augustine, near the interchange of State Road 16 and Interstate 95. The complex includes research facilities and laboratories. And, soon, it will include a multi-million dollar public education center.
But, of course, the primary goal of a mosquito control district is to keep the public safe. St. Johns County has gone for nearly 20 years without any locally acquired mosquito-borne diseases, Xue said.
According to Xue, the support of commissioners, employees, and collaboration with national and international organizations have helped the district grow from a small program to “one of the national leaders in the field of biology and mosquito control and mosquito-borne diseases, even in the world.”
Coming to the ‘capital’ of mosquitoes
Xue, 67, of St. Augustine, said her passion is to use her background, experience and education to help save lives.
His interest in mosquitoes came from seeing and feeling the effects of mosquito-borne diseases. He grew up in a small mountain village in the Chinese province of Shanxi. He suffered from malaria in the late 1960s. And his sister died of Japanese encephalitis when she was a child, he said.
After earning a doctorate in medical entomology from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, he moved to the United States. He wanted to work in Florida in part because of the extensive mosquito research being done here.
“Florida really is the so-called mosquito capital,” he said.
He arrived at the Anastasia Mosquito Control District in March 2003, rising from entomologist to director in 2005. He paved the way for the expansion of the district’s research capabilities, including requesting the construction of a laboratory and an insectarium after his arrival.
He also focused on increasing prevention through public education – such as reminding people to empty containers with standing water in their yard – increasing educational opportunities for employees, expanding research capabilities, seeking grants and increasing mosquito surveillance.
His areas of expertise include vector biology and behavioral ecology of mosquitoes, as well as the development and evaluation of personal protection and repellent, according to the district. Among other things, “It is a major contributor to sugar baits and attractive toxic or targeted bait stations to control adult mosquitoes.”
Subterfuge against mosquitoes and other advances
An example of progress in mosquito control is the district’s mosquito sterilization program.
In 2018, district officials spoke with The Record about a pilot program conducted in a 20 acre area in West Augustine.
The district released thousands of mosquitoes several times a week that had been injected with a bacteria called Wolbachia, which is common in insects. But according to research done by the MosquitoMate company, when the males go to mate with the females, they are rendered sterile and no eggs are hatched.
Female mosquitoes are the only ones to bite and lay eggs, increasing the population and spreading disease. The objective of the sterilization program is to prevent the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases and also to reduce the population.
The district is working on a sterile insect technique plan which is expected to be completed in February 2023, according to Xue.
“We plan to group (rear) male Aedes aegypti and (Aedes) albopictus mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia and irradiated male mosquitoes for release to control (the) natural population in (mid) 2023,” he said. he writes in an email to The Record.
The neighborhood has centralized from four stations to one over the years. It opened at its current location, a new complex, in 2016, Xue said. The new location has allowed the district to increase its grants and has received more than $2 million in grants since the move, he said.
The complex cost more than $4 million to build and came after the district doubled its mileage rate in 2014, though it has been reduced since then. The municipality cannot go into debt. The district has also acquired helicopters to handle its own aerial spraying, launched in 2019.
The commission reduced the mileage rate from 0.205 mils to 0.2 mils in 2021. District expenditures for that fiscal year were expected to be approximately $9.9 million.
Some areas of research for the district: “Behavioral ecology and mosquito management; evaluation of new control methods, tools and equipment; evaluation of methods and tools for monitoring vector and pest mosquito populations; monitoring of insecticide resistance”; and “the effectiveness of larvicides and adulticides for mosquito control,” according to the district.
The district has a team of about 30 employees, including biologists, mosquito control technicians and an education specialist. People from other states and countries come to the district to learn and train, and faculty and students conduct research in the district. The district also educates students in the St. Johns County School District.
The district plans to open a 6,000 square foot complex to educate children and adults about mosquitoes, mosquito control and insect-borne diseases in July. The center will also train researchers. The cost was estimated at around $3 million. The district plans to hold an open house at the facility in June during National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, Xue said.
Among other contributions, Moeller said she plans to travel to Mali, Africa, this year to talk about the district’s work with District Scientific Director/Entomologist Whitney Qualls in hopes of helping communities better protect their inhabitants against mosquito-borne diseases. She said it was not a taxpayer-funded trip. Grants help, but officials will help pay their own way, she said.
“Really, we’ve just come a long way,” Moeller said of the district’s operations now compared to when he first started as commissioner. “It’s the difference between night and day.”