City of Greenville Taking Care of Mosquitoes Ahead of the Summer

Mosquitoes can carry diseases like malaria, West Nile virus, and most recently the Zika virus, just to name a few.

The Greenville Police Department is once again starting up the Mosquito Population Control after its first apparently successful year in 2016.

“I think so. I don’t remember getting bit last year, and I usually get chewed up by them!” says Lieutenant Marcus Christianson with the Greenville Police Department with a laugh, when asked if he thought the program worked.

The city passed an ordinance a few years ago to help control the mosquito population in the city limits. The ordinance states that mosquito breeding grounds must be destroyed. If not done so after receiving warnings, property owners can be fined by police.

Those breeding grounds can be anything from pools in a backyard, birdbaths, tires with water in them, even something as small as a bottle cap filled with water.

“Anywhere [water] stands, they’re going to breed,” Christianson adds. He says the police didn’t have to write any fines last year, and he hopes to keep it that way. He says the main goal of the ordinance was not to punish people, but to educate them on how to keep the mosquitoes out of the city.

Last year was the first year police were involved with the program. Christianson’s hoping to get a little more help this year when it comes to keeping the bugs at bay.

“We need the community to work on this, more than us. It’s your yard, you know your yard better than we do. You know your property better than we do. So take care of it.”

If you’d like to report someone whose property could have the potential to become a mosquito breeding ground, you can call the Greenville Police’s non-emergency number, (334) – 382 – 7461.