DATE ESTABLISHED: 1913

MAILING ADDRESS: PO BOX 327 BARNEGAT, NJ 08005-0327

TELEPHONE #: (609) 698-8271

FAX#: (609) 698-2351

Website: www.ocmosquito.org

West Nile virus surveillance

Efficacy tests on Altosid Liquid Larvacise and Bti

A. History: As early as 1627, it was realized that something had to be done about warding off mosquitoes to make New Jersey a more inhabitable territory. The settlers would have "wet-wood" fires burning in the evening in front of their houses, so that the gusts of smoke would dispel the mosquitoes. People would actually wear handkerchiefs to cover their nose and mouth to keep from breathing in the mosquitoes.

It was not until just before the turn of the century, though, that some people began to give some serious thought to New Jersey’s mosquito problem. As a result of the established connection between malaria, yellow fever, and mosquitoes, in 1900, Dr. Smith secured a small amount of money for a preliminary investigation of the mosquito. On June 27, 1901, Dr. Smith sent out his first questionnaire to various Boards of Health throughout the State. Townships began to take up the cause of the anti-mosquito move. Finally, on March 12, 1912 the law calling for the establishing of county mosquito commissions to be effective immediately was approved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey.

The Ocean County Mosquito Extermination Commission was established in 1913.  The first record of a meeting held by the Ocean County Mosquito Extermination Commission is June 30, 1915.

Our first Board of Commissioners was made up of the following men:

Dr. Frank Brouwer, President; John Ernst, Treasurer; C. H. Conover, Secretary; R. F. Engle, Member; George J. H. Cushing, Member; C. H. Cranmer, Member

In 1915, the first control was begun in the County in the form of ditching by contracted labor. This work was supervised by the State Inspector. The Budget for that first year was $6,000; $3,000, which was supplied by the County and the other $3,000 came from the State.

The majority of the hand labor ditching work done in those early days was still contracted out, but the Commission was beginning to establish its own work crews for the cleaning of ditches.

The Commission grew steadily over the next twenty years.

1. Frequent patrols of breeding areas were begun to earmark where ditching and cleaning should take place.

2. As new roads and developments came under construction, the Mosquito Commission established drainage pipes and systems.

3. In 1921, a mosquito control pamphlet was written and introduced into the educational curriculum of 9^th - 12^th grade students.

4. Machines, such as the Riley Ditch Cleaning Machine, were brought into service in 1925, increasing the speed and reducing the cost of cleaning ditches.

5. From 1933 to 1938, Ocean County utilized the services of various relief labor, such as the WPA and the CCC. The work of these men produced and maintained much of the more than 1600 miles of drainage ditching in the area by 1936.

6. Larviciding was being done by hand with fuel oil.

The war years slowed the Commission down in its fight against mosquitoes because of the reduced size of its labor force, but it, along with the State Agricultural Experiment Station, was now moving into the area of research work in the study of mosquito habits.

As the close of the War neared, in 1944, Ocean County found itself involved in the research of malaria mosquitoes. This came about as a result of the returning servicemen to Fort Dix and discussions began on the use of DDT to kill larvae, rather than the established treatment of oil sprays.

On July 10, 1945, at Island Beach State Park, Ocean County witnessed one of the first aerial spray tests of DDT mixed with kerosene conducted on adult mosquitoes. The Ocean County Mosquito Commission felt that more studies needed to be conducted before the use of DDT could be recommended. As the word of the test results spread, people began petitioning for the use of DDT. A year later, the Commission began using it in catch basins; by 1947, capsules were placed in cans in the catch basins for larviciding, and by the following year, through State Aid, aerial sprays began to combat the adult mosquito population. In addition, most of the townships developed their own ground-fogging programs.

The amphibious machines developed during World War II became such an incredible asset to the Commission that by 1953, the hand labor crew was discontinued. In 1956, the State of New Jersey set up The State Mosquito Control Commission.

Then in 1959, New Jersey had an encephalitis outbreak. In Ocean County, there were 18 cases with 10 deaths. The Mosquito Commission ordered out all municipalities to do nightly ground-fogging in conjunction with daily airsprays. A campaign was launched to encourage and educate residents to help get rid of all breeding spots on their individual property. In 1960, no cases of encephalitis were reported, as a result of diligent and effective mosquito control.

Today we are still utilizing the basics established by the original mosquito control workers. That is, that the elimination of the mosquito in the local stage is the most efficient and safest method.

In 1969, three years before DDT was banned by the State and Federal Governments, the Commission switched to the Open Marsh Water Management system of permanent control. Today, the Mosquito Commission utilizes an integrated management program. A comprehensive surveillance system monitors the adult mosquito population and vector potential and guides a coordinated chemical control, biological control and Source reduction attack.

The primary method of chemical control, at the County level is larviciding. Two Bell Jetranger 206B helicopters are utilized to cover the 28, 000 acres of saltmarsh. Several truck mounted hydraulic sprayers are used to reach areas that helicopters cannot do and handle upland mosquito larviciding. The helicopters inspect the saltmarsh areas at least twice a week during the season and treat any larvae found. The trucks make a continuous circuit though all parts of the County starting early in the spring and continuing into October. The control agents used are the latest highly specific non-persistent and most environmentally sound available. Presently, state of the art insect growth regulators and biological agents are used.

If the adult mosquito populations get an extraordinary high level or there is disease potential then a request is made of the State Mosquito Control Commission to perform an aerial adulticide. Once again the safest most effective materials are used.

Utilizing the breeding and treatment data from the larviciding program certain areas are targeted for Open Marsh Water Management. This is a system researched and devised by Mosquito Commission in the Southern Counties of New Jersey, Rutgers University and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Game. It is also endorsed by the N.J.D.E.P., the Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It controls mosquitoes in the larval stage by killifish and other natural predators and it eliminates the use of larvicides on the managed site for many years. The Commission uses several pieces of specialized equipment to accomplish this year-round. In 1976, the Commission was one of the first to acquire an Amphibious Rotary Ditcher. It was the latest in equipment designed to work in the ecologically sensitive salt marsh. Today the Commission utilizes 4 Amphibions Rotary excavators, the next generation in this type of equipment, in addition to the original machine. Also a small standard excavator and backhoe bulldozer are used.

B. Organization: The Ocean County Mosquito Extermination Commission operates under Title 26, Chapter 9 of the Public Health Statutes of the State of New Jersey. These statutes describe the Organization and powers of the Commission in Section 13 through 26.

The Freeholders of the County of Ocean appoint to three years terms, seven Commissioners who meet monthly to administer the policy of the Commission.

The present Board of Commissioners consists of:

The Board of Commissioners administers policy through a Superintendent who supervises all the activities of the Commission. The present Superintendent is: Thomas M. Candeletti

The Commission receives the majority of its funding by direct appropriation from the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders. This amount is appropriated as per Title 26, Chapter 9 of the Public Statue of New Jersey for use in Mosquito Control. In addition, the Commission receives some funds by way of State Aid from the New Jersey State Mosquito Control Commission. These funds are received to perform Open Marsh Water Management on certain State Mosquito Control Projects.

C. Personnel: The staff of the Ocean County Mosquito Extermination Commission consists of fifteen full time positions. An additional twelve seasonal employees were hired during the summer season.