Man, Mosquitoes and Microbes. By- Schc.:Inover, Roberta
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1 REPORT RESUMES ED 012205 RC 001 108 MAN, MOSQUITOES AND MICROBES. BY- SCHC.:INOVER, ROBERTA. FLORIDA ST. BOARD OFHEALTH, JACKSONVILLE PVC DATE MAY 67 EMS PRICEMF-$0.09 HC-V.20 30P. DESCRIPTORS- *DISEASES, *DISEASECONTROL, *ECONOMICS, *HEALTH, *RESEARCH, ENTOMOLOGICALRESEARCH CENTER, BUREAU OF PREVENTABLE DISEASES, BUREAUOF ENTOMOLOGY, BUREAU OF LACORATO:ZIES, JACKSONVILLE,MIDGE CONTROL LABORATORY THE CONTROL OF MOSQUITOESIS A MATTER OF INCREASING CONCERN IN THE STATE 07 FLORIDA.A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE LIFE CYCLE, VARIOUS SPECIES,CONTROL, AND DESCRIPTION OF DISEASES TRANSMITTED BY THEMOSQUITO WAS PRESENTED. THE ARTICLE CONCLUDED THAT MOSQUITOCONTROL IS NOT ONLY A HEALTH PROBLEM, BUT ALSO A MATTEROF IMPROVED ECONOMICS INRELATION TO POPULATION GROWTH. THISDOCUMENT IS AN ISSUE OF "FLORIDA HEALTH NOTES," VOLUME 59,NUMBER 5, MAY 1967. (JS) FLORIDA HEALTH NOTES U.S. DEPARTMENT Of HEALTH, EDUCATION& WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCEDEXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATINGIT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENTOFFICIAL OFFICE Of EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. VOLUME 59- NO. 5 lin, Mospitses aid Microbes MAY 1967 co/ /eg (Cover photo) A salt marsh mos- quito, AEDES SOLLIC;TANS, takes a meet of blood from a human finger. If the mosquito has a virus, it would pass it on to the human through a salivary fluid which the mosquito in- jectsinto the human during the meal. Arthropod-borne diseases are norm- ally carried by mosquitoes from one bird to another or to a rodent. These serve as reservoirs for the diseases. When horses or men are bitten by a virus-carryingmosquito,theybe- come ill and sometimes die. II lall, Mosquitoes andMicrobes It's summertime in Florida! At one time summer meant "mosquito-',:me" andlife was con- sidered unbearable; pestilences raged; a member of Congress said that the state couldnever be developed, was not a fit place to live, and described it as a land ofswamps, alligators, frogs and mos- quitoes. Today, onlya few decades later, mosquito control has made Florida a year-around tourist's paradise,a retirement place and a desirable spot for enjoyable living. Ever since the Spaniards, and recorded history, touchedthese shores, man and the mosquito have been bitter enemies.This in- sect has been known as a biting pest for centuries,but only since the beginning of the 20th Century hasman known that yellow fever, malaria, dengue fever andsome viral encephalitides were arthropod-borne diseases. Mosqui :oes have always been consideredone of the unpleasant things in life. The knowledge of how to eradicatethese pests and the diseases they carry is being acquired throughresearch carried on by the State Board of Health, the U. S. Public Health Service, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, mosquitocontrol districts, private philanthropic foundations and other governmentalagencies. This issue of Florida Health Notes will tellyou about the dangers engendered by the mosquito; the fight to make the state pleasantly livable foryou, for the six million other residents of the state and for17 million annual visitors ; and the research being conducted to find the intimatesecrets of a mosquito's life and to control arthropod-bornediseases. FLORIDA HEALTH NOTES 231 Man-The Victim From the earliest daysmosquitoes have beena nuisance in Flor- ida. They have playeda prominent part in the slow development of this subtropicalgem called Florida, even though thestate other- wise had much to offer itsresidents and visitors. Thebeauty of the Sunshine State has beenmarred by 67 species ofmosquitoes, several of them carrying diseaseand/or otl- erwise making lifein- tolerable. The mosquitowas such a plague when the Spaniards arrivedthat they named what today isPonce de Leon Inlet,or Mosquito Inlet, "Barro de Mosquitos." Sincethe time of the earliestmaps, one of which dates from 1615,some of Florida's inlets, lagoons andsec- tions have borne thename Mosquito. In the 18th Century,the part of Florida lying betweenthe St. Johns River and thecoastal lagoons north of Cape Canaveralwas called "The Mosquito Country,"or "The Mosquitoes." Two lagoons in thearea were named North and South Mosquito Lagoons. When the British ownedFlorida, they tried to improve the nomenclature by namingthe north lagoon after theEarl of Halifax and the south lagoonafter the Earl of Hillsboro.Later in the 19th Century, thesenames became official but the Hillsboro River was changed about40 years ago to NorthIndian Lagoon to avoid confusion witha stream near Tampa. FLORIDA HEALTH NOTES Published monthly by the FloridaState Board of Health, Wilson T. State Health OfficerPublication office, Box 210, Sowdcr, M D, M.P.H , postage paid at Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville,Florida 32201Second class an interest in the state's health This publicat on isfor individuals and institutions with credit programsPermissionisgiven to quote any story providing is given to the Florida State Board ofHealth Ed.tor Division of Health Education. Robert ASchoonover, M A, VOLUME 59NO. 5 MAY 1967 232 FLORIDA HEALTHNOTES 4 S F. 160fit.""t` 4 i'k* 16- ;$1 VW." -40-; AL. *TN,- I.14' :(011',;- Hundreds of thousands of mosquito pupae clog a ditch.Unless they are destroyed, adult mosquitoes will emerge within a few hours and take flight at twilight. In 1824 when Mosquito Country was made into a county which included a large portion of peninsular Florida, governmental offi- cials could think of no more appropriate name than "Mosquito Conty." The Florida Legizlature changed the disagreeable name to Orange County in 1845. The insect was feared by armies that fought across Florida. Soldiers were so beset by mosquitoes during skirmishes that the men were unable to fight. For many years settlements were restricted to the northern sec- tion of the state. The southern portion was a series of swamps, lakes, rivers and hammocks populated mostly by hoards ofmos- quitoes and other biting insects. Even though northern Florida was settled, it suffered from disease, hardship and poverty. With the exception of Key West, the major citiesTallahassee, Jacksonville, FLORIDA HEALTH NOTES 233 St. Augustine and Pensacolawere in this area, which was known as the "malaria belt." Every year deadly fevers spread consternation throughout the region. Shops were closed ; fear of the epidemic and the stifling heat caused those who could afford the expense to migrate North to more healthful climates for the months of August, September, October and November. Those who were forced to stay behind suffered through the pestilent seasons or were buried in the large cemeteries which marred the beauty of the region. When the statehood of Florida was being debated in Congress, John Randolph of Virginia stated that Florida could never be de- veloped, nor would it ever be a fit place to live. He described the region as "a landof swamps, of quagmires, of frogs and alligators and mosquitoes." ( The Story of Yellow Fever For years yellow fever brought fear and panic to many Florida cities which were visited by ships from the Caribbean and Central and South America. Commerce and passengers arriving in Florida ports seemed to be accompanied by wave after wave of yellow fever. Many strange remedies were recommended. Mail and cargo were a. ... °111'.. An air plant, or brome- Is_ liad,isthe breeding dr, ....1111,..... placeofseveral species of mosquitoes, including AEDES AEGYPTI, the yellow fevercarryingmos- quito. k 234 ,ii 7 fumigated ; cannons were fired; lime was spread in thestreets, houses and shops; bonfires were lit at night. The 1877yellow fever epidemicin Fernandina and was described by Jacksonville historiansas the state's greatestholocaust. Fernandina, witha population of 1632, had fever. Twenty-four 1146 persons ill withthe died. In 1887, yellowfever epidemics raged Key West, Tampa, in Plant City and Manatee.The panicwas so wide- spread in Tampathat lighted lampswere left and stoves burning when people were still fled the city inhaste. The 1888epidemic in Jacksonvillesaw some 10,000persons (out of a population 26,800 in Duval of County) flee the cityin carriages, drays,wagons, trains and shipsladen to capacity. The yellow fever epidemicsbrought about thecreation of the State Board ofHealth. Althoughnobody knew it at public health the time, the programs of Florida had theirbeginning in themos- quito. By 1901 thisinsect was discoveredto be the transmitter yellow fever. of Followingan epidemic in Pensacolain 1905, the quarantining of shipswhich were thoughtto be bringing the from foreign vector ports, the screeningand spraying ofhomes, the destruction of adultmosquitoes and theprevention of mosquito breeding broughtabout an end to thefearsome epidemics. The mosquito was also incriminated in thetransmission of dengue fever and malaria.Although obervations State Health were made by the first Officer, Dr. JosephY. Porter, thatattacks of malaria were more deadly along the river bottoms,marshlands and in the flatwoods,no concerted efforts were made to control malariauntil World War Iwhen drainage andlarviciding were carried Camp Johnson by out at the joint efforts ofthe U. S. Army, theU. S. Public Health Serviceand the State Boardof Health. Mosquito Control'sBeginning . The first malaria control programwas undertaken by the State Board of Healthin Perry in 1920.At the time it project of its kind in was the largest the country. A totalof $28,000was spent and 47,000 cubic yardsof dirt moved tomake drainage ditches canals. The cost of and the projectwas borne by the City ofPerry, FLORIDA HEALTHNOTES 235 Taylor County and the Burton Swartz Cypress Company withthe State Board of Health supplying technical supervision. The result- ing better health of the people of Lhearea proved the benefits of the project. Further progress in controlling malaria, and subsequentlymos- quitoes, was made when the Rockefeller Foundation establisheda malaria control research station at Tallahassee in 1931. This sta- tion. working in conjuneon with the State Hospital at Chatta- hoochee and the State E. _.rd of Health, gave inestimable value to work in the malaria field. A mosquito control research stationwas also established in Orlando in 1932 by the U.