A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018
NEWS
Mosquito-borne diseases on the rise
Problems may
continue as planet
temperatures
grow warmer
By KATHY ANEY
STAFF WRITER
The deadliest creature in
the animal kingdom doesn’t
have teeth or claws — it’s
smaller and far more benign
looking than bear, boa con-
strictor or shark.
“The number one most
dangerous animal in the
world is the tiny, tiny mos-
quito,” said mosquito expert
Sascha McKeon. “Mosquitos
are the worst vectors. They
transmit bacteria, viruses
and parasites like protists
and nematode worms. Mos-
quitoes can carry multiple
infectious agents.”
Mosquitoes can pass
along malaria, Dengue fever,
chikungunya,
encephali-
tis, yellow fever, West Nile
virus and zika, among oth-
ers. Now, thanks to climate
change, some of these ail-
ments could someday come
to a neighborhood near you.
McKeon spent three years
as a field researcher in the
Brazilian Amazon and even
discovered a previously
unknown mosquito species
— the Anopheles rickwilk-
ersoni. The Blue Mountain
Community College biology
instructor spoke last week at
the monthly Science Cafe
hosted by the Eastern Ore-
gon Climate Change Coa-
lition (EOC3) at the Prod-
igal Son Brewery & Pub in
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
A ground crew at the West Umatilla Mosquito Control District
fills a aerial application bucket system with the larvicide,
VectoBac G, on Thursday in Hermiston.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Mosquito expert Sascha McKeon spent three years in the Brazilian Amazon and discovered a
previously unknown mosquito species - the anopheles rickwilkersoni.
Pendleton.
McKeon likes to refer
to a mosquito researcher
as a cross between Indiana
Jones and Buffy the Vam-
pire Slayer. Instead of gold,
however, mosquito research-
ers chase down larval
breeding sites and genetic
information.
McKeon flashed on the
screen a chart showing num-
bers of people killed by var-
ious animals. Sharks kill
about 10 people in the world
each year. Crocodiles kill
1,000. Snakes kill 50,000.
Humans murder around
425,000.
The mosquito stood alone
in its lethality.
“About 725,000 deaths
a year can be attributed to
mosquitoes
worldwide,”
McKeon said.
The mosquitoes trans-
mitting all those viruses and
diseases aren’t found only
in distant Africa or South
America, McKeon said.
They already live right here
in the United States.
“There are 3,500 dif-
ferent species of mosqui-
toes,” McKeon said. “They
span all seven continents.
There are mosquitoes that
live in Antarctica. They are
everywhere.”
She ticked off the names
of the three main types of
mosquitoes on the planet —
Culex, Aedes and Anopheles
— and said all reside here.
So why isn’t the U.S.
swamped by deadly mosqui-
to-borne diseases?
“What’s really hold-
ing back the diseases is that
pathogens need a certain
temperature to transmit,”
McKeon said.
She said mosquitoes can
go full-throttle in places
where the temperature is
84 degrees and higher year-
round like the tropics. As
long as we continue to have
seasons, mosquitoes will
die off and new uninfected
batches will emerge, she
said. But if we become like
the tropics, then there will be
no die-off.
“Let’s flash forward 60
years from now,” McKeon
said. “If our climate esti-
mates go as predicted, by
2080, it’ll be 84 degrees
almost year-round (in much
of the U.S). This will be the
new tropics. Oregon will
have pockets.”
Malaria has visited us
before. McKeon flashed on
Mosquito control is a constant fight
By KATHY ANEY
STAFF WRITER
Responding to the sound
of chopper blades, the five
men looked toward the sun
and the silhouette of small
helicopter heading their
way.
The order of the day, as
it is almost every summer
day for them, was mosquito
control.
Four of the men —
Andrew
Ross,
Dalton
Hughes, Mark Wilkerson
and Rylie Smith — work
as mosquito control tech-
nicians for the West Uma-
tilla Mosquito Control Dis-
trict, based in Hermiston.
The other, Dan Long, is an
employee of South County
Helicopter.
The helicopter landed
next to a cone-shaped
bucket to be hooked to the
chopper’s belly by a trio
of cables. In the bed of a
nearby pickup truck, bags of
VectoBac sat ready for load-
ing into the bucket.
The helicopter would
spray nearby water bodies
to kill developing mosquito
larvae.
Wearing dust masks, they
hauled 10 of the bags to the
bucket and dumped them
in. Pilot Cliff Hoeft took
off and flew a short way
to the Power City Wildlife
Area, where he made a pass,
releasing his load of granu-
lar larvicide. Before day’s
end, Hoeft would treat water
bodies in multiple locations,
including Cold Springs,
Stanfield/Echo
Meadows
and the Irrigon Wildlife
Area.
Combating mosquitoes
by air is only one method.
More often, the attack is by
ground.
These men spend many
of their workdays trudg-
ing through swampy areas
in hip waders or riding
four-wheelers to spray with
the aid of backpack hoppers.
It’s hot, humid work.
“We get up at 5 a.m. and
get to work early to beat the
heat,” Ross said.
Thwarting
West
Nile virus is one of the
WUMCD’s aims, said Ross,
the crew’s field supervisor.
The crew detected the mos-
quito-borne virus in three
samples collected along
the south bank of the Cold
Springs Reservoir earlier
this summer.
The weapon of choice
at the moment is a granu-
lar formulation of a bacteria
called Bacillus thuringien-
sis, or Bti.
“It’s a naturally occurring
bacteria found in the soil,”
Ross said. “The mosquitoes
ingest it and it crystalizes in
their gut.”
The mosquitoes stop eat-
ing and eventually die.
Some could say such
attempts to crack down on
the millions of mosquitoes
in the area is like trying to
empty the ocean one bucket
at a time. Ross has heard this
before but says targeting the
worst areas keeps the insects
at bay. He recalls conversa-
tions with old-timers from
the area who remember
mosquitoes making their
lives miserable in years past.
“They talk about going
to a football game and being
covered by them,” Ross
said.
Randy Gerard, manager
of the mosquito control dis-
trict, said the district has
identified 13 different spe-
cies over the years. He said
surveillance is a huge part of
what the district does.
“No spraying of any kind
is done without surveil-
lance,” Gerard said. “There
are roughly 600 sites that I
know of.”
Workers trap adult mos-
quitoes to identify species
and gauge how well they are
doing. They test for West
Nile. Most of their focus,
however, is on the lar-
vae. With fewer hatching,
there’s less chance of dis-
ease spreading.
“The whole goal is to
control mosquitoes from
hatching out of the water,”
Gerard said. “It’s a constant
fight.”
People can do their part
by keeping standing water,
such as clogged gutters, to a
minimum on their property.
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COMMUNITY
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Worship Service 10:30 AM
Sunday School 9:00 AM
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Children’s Church & Nursery Available
700 West Orchard Avenue
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Hermiston, Oregon
541-567-8441
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First United
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Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
567-8241
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Ned LeDoux
Brewers Grade Band • 7:30pm
opening for Ned LeDou x
Thurs. • Aug. 9 • 9pm
Skid Row
Fri. • Aug. 10 • 7pm
Tormenta De Durango - 7:00PM
Grupo Fatal - 8:00PM • La Nobleza De Aguililla - 9:15PM
Los Canarios de Michoacan - 10:30PM • Alacranes Musical - 11:45PM
Sat. • Aug. 11 • 9pm
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Enjoy Desert Sounds DJ in the Barley Barn Nightly! (21 & older)
Reserved Tickets ON SALE NOW! ONLY $12
(does not include admission)
PREMIUM SEATING $20 (does not include fair admission)
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1705 E. Airport Rd., Hermiston, OR • 541.567.6121
The Full Gospel
Home Church
Sawyer Brown
Wed. • Aug. 8 • 9pm
S AT ., A UG . 4 TH 6:30 PM
Title Sponsor
Pastor David Dever
567-3013
Tues. • Aug. 7 • 9pm
August 7 - 11
F AIR K ICK -O FF P ARADE
125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
Worship Gathering 10:00 am
Children’s Church 10:00 am
235 SW 3rd
Phone 567-7678
Rev. Ed Baker - Rev. Nina Baker
Sunday:
Sunday School........10:00 am
Worship...................11:00 am
Evening Service........7:00 pm
Wednesday Service..7:00 pm
“Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.”
1 Pet. 5:7
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LANDMARK BAPTIST
CHURCH
Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am
Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am
Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm
Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm
Hermiston Jr. Academy
1300 NW Academy Lane, • Hermiston
Your Family Deserves The
methods to eliminate malaria
from the country by 1949.
It will likely return as
global temperatures rise.
McKeon isn’t all gloom
and doom. She hopes man-
kind will find a way to com-
bat climate change. There
are ways to control mos-
quitoes, and the arsenal is
growing.
She said mosquitos are-
also an integral part of sev-
eral ecological systems.
WORSHIP
1520 W ORCHARD AVE
Sunday Worship Service
10:30 am Classes for Kids @ 9:15 am
SEEKING JESUS, SHARING LIFE,
SERVING PEOPLE
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the screen a photo of the
Centers for Disease Control
in Atlanta.
“This was not built to
be the CDC,” she said. “It
was built (in 1942) to be the
Office of Malaria Control.”
The office was placed in
Atlanta because the South
had the most malaria prob-
lems. The National Malaria
Eradication
Program
sprayed, drained mosquito
breeding sites and used other
Hermiston
191 E. Gladys Ave , Hermiston OR
Sunday Worship 11am • 541-567-3002
Nursery available Check us out on Face Book
Worship Livestream at herfumc.com
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
Rev. Dr. Jim Pierce, pastor
Grace Baptist Church
555 SW 11th, Hermiston
567-9497
Nursery provided for all services
Sunday School - 9:30 AM
Worship - 10:45 AM
6:00 PM
Wed Prayer & Worship - 7:00 PM
“Proclaiming God’s word,
growing in God’s grace”
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
t. PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday
...............................English 7:00 am
Thursday...............Spanish 6:00 pm
SATURDAY:.........English 5:00 pm
...............................Spanish 7:00 pm
SUNDAY:..............English 9:00 am
..........................Bilingual 11:00 am
..............................Spanish 1:00 pm
Offi ce..............................567-5812
To share your
worship times call
541-278-2678