Is Mosquito Control a Governmental or Public Responsibility?
Neighbors helping neighbors control public mosquito problems? Isn’t that the responsibility of governmental and public health authorities? Isn’t that a part of what we are paying them for? Well, if you ask any public health authority, they will most likely tell you that the ultimate responsibility of urban mosquito control lies with the private individual themselves or the property owner in eliminating and preventing mosquito breeding in the first place. On the other hand, eliminating breeding sites on properties alone is not going to solve any public mosquito problem. While the US has developed one of the most comprehensive and effective mosquito control industries in the world, National Geographic has described it as, “… [being] conducted by a crazy quilt of local districts that are dependent on cities and counties for funding and personnel” and “… [an] unorganized patchwork that could leave the United States vulnerable to rapidly expanding epidemics.”
