Two years after first detecting yellow fever mosquitoes in 2022, Santa Cruz County workers successfully eradicated the species. Now, less than a month before voters decide whether to increase funding for the program, the mosquitoes are back.
Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control this week confirmed the presence of the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito in Boulder Creek. The species is a concern due to its potential to transmit viral infections like dengue, Zika and yellow fever.
In response to the detection, county staff are working to identify the scope of the infestation and prevent its spread by deploying specialized traps and sampling water in the downtown Boulder Creek area.
“We’re still in the discovery phase of understanding how far and wide the infestation is,” said assistant vector control manager Amanda Poulsen. Suspicions about an infestation were first raised after her team made a troubling find during routine surveillance last week.
This story was originally reported for Lookut Santa Cruz. Read the full article here.