Mosquitoes bug many cities but not Jackson

The city of Jackson can add another slogan to its letterhead: The city of few mosquitoes.

Jackson is one of few cities in the area that does not have a mosquito-spraying program.

Cape Girardeau and Scott City to the east, Marble Hill to the west, Chaffee to the south and Perryville to the north all have some form of spraying program to deal with the insects that could carry the West Nile virus, a potentially fatal disease.

But even with the health concerns, there has been no demand in Jackson for a spraying program.

"I get around to a lot of communities, going to the ballparks," said Mayor Paul Sander, "and compared to many of those, we don't have a problem. I've never seen it as a problem, and we've never had anyone come before the council to say it was a problem."

Perhaps part of the reason mosquitoes don't favor Jackson as much is because the town is at a fairly high elevation compared to Cape Girardeau and Scott City, which lie close to the Mississippi River and the Diversion Channel.

Jackson is in the Hubble Creek watershed but does not have much problem with flooding.

Most city parks in many towns are in flood plains. To defeat mosquito problems before they start, Jackson parks director Shane West Anderson said the city has taken extra precautions in the parks to make sure water drains properly.

"I've been to three mosquito conferences," Anderson said. "And they say if you drain off the water, it will take care of the problem. What we have, really, is a drainage program. We try to allow all the water in the parks to drain off, and we try to stay away from the chemicals. We only use chemicals if it's a last resort."

In Perryville, the city pays roughly $10,000 to $15,000 per year on spraying mosquitoes. Perryville has sprayed for the last two years, ever since the West Nile virus began making headlines.

"We spray whenever it needs it," assistant public works director Dave Clements said. "When they start getting active, we spray two times a week, and we constantly treat the places that hold water."

In Cape Girardeau, the city spends about $17,000 per year to control mosquitoes. The city began fogging a few weeks ago. Currently, city employees spray twice a week, but it can be as many as three times a week during peak mosquito season.

Chaffee administrator John Chadd was surprised when he learned Jackson didn't spray for mosquitoes.

"Every other community I know of around here has some sort of spraying," he said. Chadd said during the worst of mosquito season, the city sprays at least twice a week.

Longtime Jackson Alderwoman Val Tuschhoff said she can't remember the subject ever being brought up by a resident. She said there was a brief discussion about the issue during study sessions in the last couple of years, but no action was taken.

"When you go to spraying, you've got some people who have a problem with spraying," she said.

In 2002, 168 cases of West Nile, including seven deaths, were reported in Missouri. The number of human cases dropped to 64 in 2003, but there were eight fatalities.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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