Jim Boyd commends Mosquito control association for work fighting mosquito population

Published Mar. 21, 2023, 12:42 p.m. ET | Updated Mar. 21, 2023

Taken on Oct. 29, 2021. (Photo/Erik Karits)
Taken on Oct. 29, 2021. (Photo/Erik Karits)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, hosted members of the Florida Mosquito Control Association Tuesday to commemorate its work controlling the mosquito population in Florida.

“Ensuring the health and well-being of the Florida public is one of FMCA’s top missions, and we can’t thank them enough for everything they do behind the scenes, by air, by boat and on foot to control the population of these disease-carrying insects,“ Boyd said. 

“They are highly trained, licensed public servants and we know that the state’s two largest business sectors, tourism and agriculture, could not grow without the professional control of mosquitoes.”

Sen. Erin Grall, R-Ft. Pierce, and Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes, also attended the press conference.

Members from 15 independent mosquito control districts traveled to Tallahassee during the Legislative Session. The districts work with the state’s 42 county and municipal mosquito control programs.

“Due to Florida’s sub-tropical, and tropical climates, ranging from the Panhandle to the Florida Keys, mosquito control programs work 24/7, 365 days a year,” Florida Mosquito Control Association President Sandra Fisher-Grainger said.

“Mosquito control has become a finely-honed science that includes the use of airplanes, helicopters, drones, natural predators, and impoundments to control outbreaks across the state.”

More than 80 different species of mosquitos call Florida home.

Samantha Padgett, the vice president of government relations and general counsel for Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, said mosquito control experts have boosted Florida’s economy by allowing tourists to enjoy outdoor activities.

“Before 1920, Florida’s development was slow largely because of mosquitoes.  It is well known that these biting and disease carrying pests have slowed progress in most of the tropical and subtropical climates of the world, even still today—but no longer in Florida,” said Commissioner Phil Goodman of the Keys Mosquito Control District.

“Mosquito control has continually progressed in Florida and is now a very complex and sophisticated science, encompassing elements of every physical and life science while at the same time, protecting our fragile environment.”

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