June the 19th, 2023 – Flooding and bizarre weather conditions have created the ideal setup for mosquitoes. While eastern Croatia might have the biggest fight on its hands, the Zagreb mosquito battle is also in full swing – with an interesting approach.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, this year, Zagreb secured 384,000 euros for the seemingly endless fight against abnormally large numbers of mosquitoes. Among other things, this cash was poured into the education of the capital’s residents about how to deal with these pesky insects, writes N1.
Removing water containers disrupts mosquito breeding
“People will be informed about the importance of removing containers with water in them during the summer months. This is because the most effective method for mosquito control is the removal of their breeding grounds,” explained Dragan Grubisa from the Department of Health Ecology of the City of Zagreb.
In the ongoing Zagreb mosquito battle, all kinds of approaches are on the table. As additional ammo in the fight, 100 thousand sterile male mosquitoes imported from Italy will be also released in Zagreb for the first time next week.
This will tip the balance for problematic tiger mosquitoes
“Importing and releasing sterile males means that if they become outnumbered, they’ll breed with the females, who will then produce eggs that aren’t fertile and won’t lead to any offspring. In this way, we’ll manage to biologically reduce the number of tiger mosquitoes present in any given area,” explained Ana Klobucar from the Dr. Andrija Stampar Public Health Institute.
Always use some form of mosquito repellent
In the coming warm months, experts are continuing to warn that when you are outdoors, you should use repellents of some kind to deter mosquitoes and hopefully prevent irritating bites.
