The Ohio EPA is distributing nearly $1 million to 35 counties to battle mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.
While Franklin County did not receive one of the grants, nearby Licking, Pickaway and Fairfield did.
The Tuscarawas County Health Department says its $50,000 grant will be used to monitor and control the insects. The department will survey mosquito populations for diseases like Zika and West Nile. And the grant will also help fund awareness campaigns for pet safety and disease prevention.
Health Commissioner Katie Seward says while the county has not confirmed any human cases of West Nile in the past few years, it remains a concern.
“Last year, we had two pools in Tuscarawas County that tested positive for West Nile,” Seward says. “We also had three West Nile equine cases, and unfortunately they died from the disease. That doesn’t always happen, but we were concerned perhaps it was a more aggressive strain of West Nile.”
Seward says cousins to mosquitoes that carry Zika have been spotted in Ohio. She also says the rainy and humid weather might mean an increase in mosquito populations.
