JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS,Va. –
A second round of
mosquito aerial spraying at Langley Air Force Base and Craney Island, occurred Aug.
29, 2018, in support of mosquito prevention efforts by the 633rd Civil Engineer
Squadron pest management.
The spraying is part of
the Joint Base Langley-Eustis’ ongoing partnership with the 757th Airlift
Squadron of the 910th Airlift Wing from Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, to
minimize vector borne diseases.
This spraying
was already coordinated before the report confirming West
Nile virus from Langley entomology in a specimen collected Aug. 21, 2018.
“By partnering
with the 757th AS our goal is to lessen the threats from disease transmitting
species, like mosquitos,” said Lt. Col.
Jeremy Oldham, 633rd CES commander. “The 633rd CES helps facilitate much
needed coordination to ensure the safety of our
service member’s ability to support the warfighting mission.”
According to Mitch
Burcham, 633rd CES pest management technician, pest control runs tests twice a
week on captured mosquitos to determine if there are any vector borne diseases such
as West Nile virus.
“We actively provide
control measures to help eliminate the mosquito population,” Burcham said.
“Public health and entomology personnel use a variety of mosquito traps to
collect and identify mosquitoes.”
Burcham noted that when
the number of recorded mosquitos reaches a certain threshold, various tactics to
eradicate the mosquito population are coordinated with the 757th AS, such as
aerial spraying.
According to U.S. Air
Force Lt. Col. Karl Haagsma, 757th AS, mission commander, the team sprays an Environmental
Protection Agency approved mosquito adulticide chemical called Trumpet EC at
300 feet from a specially modified U.S. Air Force
C-130 Hercules, which is equipped with a Modular Aerial Spray System.
The MASS system can hold
up to 2,000 gallons of insecticide or herbicide and disperses it using finely
tuned spray bars under each wing. A
technician also monitors and controls the rate and flow of droplets released as
the 757th AS crew utilize GPS satellites to accurately navigate and spray
identified areas.
“The insects that
actually transmit vector borne diseases fly at night, so we try to kill them
when they’re most active.” said Haagsma. “When they’re up in the air that’s
when they’ll actually be effected by the aerosol.”
The 757th AS crew say the
amount that is sprayed is small and dispersed as a fine mist making the risk
for human exposure extremely low.
“It’s like taking a shot
glass (of chemical) and spraying that amount of material over a football field,”
said Haagsma.
According to 633rd CES pest
management, after the aerial spray, traps indicated the spray was effective and
as of Tuesday no positives for West Nile virus have been found for Langley Air
Force Base.
Mosquito prevention remains
a top priority for the 633rd CES and for entomologists tracking their numbers
to coordinate partner support.
The 633rd CES pest management
will conduct mosquito fogging operations weekly starting Thursday, Sept. 6,
2018.
Fogging will be conducted
throughout industrial and residential areas of the base, and Bethel Housing
between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.