The Will County Board of Health authorized the purchase of 62 cases of larvicide Feb. 17, during its regularly scheduled monthly business meeting.
The Will County Health Department’s Division of Environmental Health distributes the larvicide (Natular XRT) in conjunction with other local units of government, to help control container breeding mosquitoes. Several Illinois mosquito species are known to transmit potentially serious diseases, including West Nile Virus (WNV) and St. Louis Encephalitis. The mosquito most often implicated in WNV transmission (Culex pipiens), has been an Illinois public health priority since 2002, when WNV was linked to 64 fatalities statewide.
The Natular XRT formulation is considered an effective weapon against Culex pipiens, commonly known as the Northern House Mosquito. It has also been used to control species of Aedes mosquitos.
Aedes aegyptai mosquitoes most commonly transmit the Zika Virus, which has been linked to more