Mosquitos & Ticks
From the Public Health Director:
Important Information regarding Mosquito Control and Protecting Yourself from Mosquito Bites
The Wayland Health Department would like to advise the public that the catch basins in town will be treated beginning the end of this week with ALTOSID XR Briquettes supplied by the Wayland Board of Health and distributed by the East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project. The treatment will be completed by next week. This treatment is done every year to control mosquito larvae to reduce mosquito-borne illness. ALTOSID is a larvicide in a briquette form that disrupts the normal growth pattern of immature mosquitoes in water and prevents them from becoming breeding, biting adults. ALTOSID is a long-term (90 day), cost-effective and environmentally responsible mosquito control larvicide.
The treated catch basins will be marked with a red dot; if you notice an untreated catch basin (after July 10th) please contact our office at (508) 358-3617. The town of Wayland contracts the services of the East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project for mosquito control including helicopter spraying using BTI larvicide in the spring and catch basin treatments in the early summer. Our program during mosquito season also includes mosquito trapping, identifying populations and surveillance for diseases and species.
Mosquito Control Resources:
- Adult Mosquito Control Memo
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Mosquito Control
- CDC — West Nile Virus
- East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project (EMMCP)
- EPA's Repellents: Protection against Mosquitoes, Ticks and Other Arthropods
- Massachusetts Arbovirus Surveillance and Response Plan
- MA Dept of Public Health's Preventing Disease Spread by Mosquitos
Tick Prevention Resources:
- Tick testing for disease (tickreport.com)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention —Ticks
- EOHHS Tickborne Diseases
- Initial Middlesex Tick Task Force Newspaper Article: Introducing the Task Force's Mission and Goals
- It’s Tick Season in Wayland: Keep Yourself Safe from Ticks and Tick-Borne Illnesses
- Lyme Disease Fact Sheet
- Lyme Disease in Massachusetts: A Report Issued by the Special Commission 2013
- Permethrin Fact Sheet
- Powassan Virus Fact Sheet
- TickEncounter Resource Center
- Tick Repellents Fact Sheet