A Summary of the Regional Survey of Mosquito Control and Usage in North Carolina

Due to the decrease in governmental mosquito control programs resulting from the state government budget cuts in 2014, it was seen that many homeowners in North Carolina spent their money to control household level mosquito-related issues.

Researchers Stephanie Richards, Jo Anne Balanay, Brian Byrd, Michael Reiskind and Diane Styers noted that factors affecting mosquito control in different socioeconomic communities in North Carolina had not been studied. Thus, they sought to determine factors that determine whether or not people are willing to pay for mosquito control services, the knowledge of mosquito borne diseases and control in NC, and the extent to which these differences exist in various socioeconomic communities.

The study conducted assessments in the urban, suburban and rural communities of three North Carolinian counties (Pitt, Wake and Henderson County). These assessments tested public perception and knowledge of mosquito control services and mosquito borne diseases. The survey method was a 27 question survey mailed to the households of interest.

It was observed that most people believed that mosquito control programs should be covered by municipal taxes. Other respondents believed that they could personally take care of mosquito prevention on the household scale. Very few people actually contracted mosquito control services. It was also observed that all counties performed common methods of mosquito control and prevention such as removing empty containers to prevent breeding sites.

Refer to this link for the published study.

2018-11-07T21:44:23+00:00April 6th, 2018|News|