Lexington starts Fight the Bite campaign to reduce mosquito population

Fight the Bite wants to eliminate standing water

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)-  The Fayette County Health Department has a new initiative called Fight the Bite to help control mosquitoes.

The department will use mosquito trapping to identify areas where spraying for adult mosquitos would be most useful. According to the health department, Lexington neighborhoods have been surveyed to identify and treat large areas of standing water that can serve as prime locations for mosquitoes to lay their eggs.

Elimination of standing water is the ultimate goal but the health department reports places where puddles exist can be treated to kill mosquito larvae with a chemical.

The health department will no longer conduct routine mosquito spraying for adult mosquitoes throughout the city on a regular cycle. Instead, mosquito traps will be placed in potential problem areas.

If a certain threshold of mosquito activity is reached, the department will conduct targeted spraying in the appropriate areas.

To report a standing water problem in your neighborhood, please call the health department’s Environmental Health section at 859-231-9791.