2009 SURVEY FOR MOSQUITOES IN SOUTH DAKOTA
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND METHODS
This is the 9th year of a project initiated by the South Dakota Department of Health for the purpose of monitoring mosquitoes in South Dakota for the presence of the West Nile Virus.  A group from SDSU and several municipalities within South Dakota have been assisting the Department of Health in collecting mosquitoes from various key sites within the State.   The Department of Health is also trapping mosquitoes from the Pierre and Mitchell areas.  The sites that the group from SDSU are assisting with include 17 different sites in Brookings County and 2 sites in Beadle County (1 north of Wolsey and 1 in Huron.  Three undergraduate students (Amy Bastian, Kalahari Kastelic, Brett Riss) and one graduate student (Matt Wittry) are performing most of the mosquito collections and identifications from Brookings and Beadle counties.   

To collect mosquitoes, CDC miniature light traps (J.W. Hock Inc., Gainesville, FL) are being used with carbon-dioxide baiting, beginning on May 31 and ending on September 1, 2009.   The light traps are equipped with an internal programmable photo-switch such that the light and fan are turned on at dusk and and off at dawn.  The traps are checked each morning and the mosquitoes are frozen in conventional freezers (approximately -20C).  During the same week, the mosquitoes are thawed briefly, identified and then re-frozen at -70C.   Frozen mosquitoes are sent to the S.D. Department of Health on dry ice to be tested for the presence of the virus.

ADULT SURVEILLANCE DATA

SDSU Mosquito Count Site this site serves as collection point for all of the various personnel trapping mosquitoes within South Dakota

Collection Sites for the SDSU Research Group (Satellite image provided by the USGS EROS Data Center)
Current data is reported with each of the linked sites listed below.

Brookings Sites:
City Site: This trap was located a couple of blocks west of Main Street within the city of Brookings.

 

Acreage Site: Mosquito trap was located in a small grove on a acreage approximately 1 mile from the Big Sioux River.  The acreage is approximately 2 miles south of the Brookings city limits and contains a few horses, cows, and sheep.

Wilson Trap Site: This trap is located north of Brookings.

South Farm Site: The trap was located at a farm site south of Brookings.

Huron Site:
City Fairgrounds Site: Trap is located in a bushy area of the South Dakota State Fairgrounds in Huron, SD.

Wolsey Site:

Farm Site: This trap is located in a shelter belt on a farm a few miles north of Wolsey.  Temporary wetlands are located 1 mile south of this farm site.

 
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