In the past week, the mosquito problem has exploded in Georgetown County, and the request to suppress the nuisance has grown as well.
"We've had well over 12 inches of rain in August in the county in different parts," said Georgetown County Mosquito Control Supervisor Tim Chatman, "and that has resulted in tremendous breeding of a woodland mosquito that's coming off right now. When I say coming off right now, that means the mosquito are breeding and hatching off right now from eggs."
Chatman called this season mild before the Labor Day weekend rains that drenched our area, but he calls what's going on now "extreme."
"I would not recommend that anyone go out in the late evening, but that's so much not the problem now. The particular species that we are faced with now will bite all day long," said Chatman. "People will experience walking across their lawns and mosquitoes just jumping up on them. Because these mosquitoes are breeding in such high numbers it is actually competing for blood meal. It appears that mosquitoes are just swarming them."
The height of mosquito problem came this past Saturday, said Georgetown City resident Beverly Noble.
"Saturday was almost unbearable," she said. "Saturday was a ten for sure. There was no doubt about it. It was the worst. Today is probably a two. They're out here, but they're not as bad."
They're not as bad because Chatman and his small team of workers, that consist of four (himself included), have worked none stop to deal with the more than 200 call-in complaints that his office has handled in the past week.
Since Friday, workers have sprayed more than 34,000 acres in the county and used eight 30 gallon barrels of mosquito repellant throughout the county. Spray machines shoot out a mixture that includes only an ounce of mosquito repellant per acre.
"We're anticipating doing another 10,000 acres within the next two days," said Chatman. "Hopefully, that will give us a measure of control. We'll go back to our normal truck sprays. But certainly if we have to go back up and do some aerial sprayings in some insolated areas, we are certainly prepared to do that as well."
Another problem Chatman is keeping a close eye is the virus mosquitoes carry.
Last month, the Center for Disease Controls said this year more cases of West Nile have been discovered in the United States than ever.
"We've had one in Marlboro County, but we've actually had two cases, one in Charleston and one in Berkley County which is our neighboring counties. But nothing in Georgetown as of yet," said Chatman.
Five mosquito species that carry the virus can be found in Georgetown County, said Chatman.
"We do some efforts in some of the areas that we know are prime habitats for those mosquitoes, and we actually go and surveil those areas a little more often than we do other areas," said Chatman.
