TAMPA, Fla. — The fight against the bite continues.
Tampa’s code enforcement teams are out in full force, working to stop the spread of dengue virus.
They aren’t doing the fight alone.
Beyond the aerial spraying missions by Hillsborough County Mosquito Management Services, Hillsborough County’s health department is also canvassing door to door to raise awareness.
The efforts remain consistent, especially after the most recent numbers from Florida’s Department of Health showing 95 cases in Hillsborough County.
Making her rounds on Monday morning was code enforcement officer Barbara Riley.
“We all have grids, and we just hit every tire shop we could,” said Riley. “We just check the tires just to make sure that there’s no water in them.”
Tampa’s neighborhood enhancement division has been on its toes fighting the dengue virus, as Hillsborough County becomes a hotbed.
Any standing water could become a home to mosquitoes carrying the fever-causing illness.
Tampa Tires and Wheels does its part, dumping any rainwater weekly.
“Usually it’s like twice a week (dumping water). Something like that, it depends. Sometimes it rains a lot more. Sometimes it doesn’t rain at all. So you don’t have to do it. So it’s just play it by ear a little bit,” said Khalid Abou-El-Ela with Tampa Tires and Wheels.
With 30 code officers, Tampa’s neighborhood team leader BillieJo Slatton said the fight against dengue is her team’s top priority.
“We ride through the city, we’re going through alleys, we’re going through businesses, residential properties, anything that’s really obvious. So we see water may accumulate, we actually want to educate the citizen. The goal is to empty the water out; that’s the primary goal,” added Slatton.
On Monday, her team found one culprit in a vacant home.
“While we’re out in the field today, our enhancement crew leader, he actually observed the bucket that was full of water. It’s been set near someone’s property, but it’s accessible for us to actually empty the water out of the bucket,” shared Slatton.
It’s the smallest of places that could manifest into the biggest headache.
“Buckets like this, maybe some kids’ toys, frisbees, anything that could accumulate water,” Slatton said. “You want to get those things like that and keep them inside or under something so it doesn’t accumulate water and keep it empty.
“So you may have a bird feeder, bird bath that you want to help the species, but you still want to be able to dump out the water so it doesn’t sit, because we don’t want anything that’s going to harbor or be able to breed mosquito larvae.”
Officials recommend dumping out water once a week and cleaning out any containers or bowls before filling them back up.