'SLAP' Out Mosquitos With These Tips For Prevention

NORTHFIELD, IL — With summer officially underway and families in the Chicago area spending more time outdoors, local mosquito control officials have organized a public awareness campaign that will take the streets next week to emphasize stopping mosquitoes and the diseases they spread.

The SLAP (which stands for "support", "learning", "awareness" and "prevention") mosquito awareness campaign will be travelling around Chicagoland with a brightly colored mobile billboard to coincide with National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, organizers said.

The billboard will be stopping at the Glenview Park Center, 2400 Chestnut Ave. in Glenview, next Wednesday at 11 a.m. for a community outreach event to share mosquito prevention tips ahead of the July 4th holiday, according to an announcement from North Shore Mosquito Abatement District and the SLAP campaign. The campaign highlights the work being done by mosquito abatement districts and public health offices nationwide.

SLAP focuses on four key pillars of municipal mosquito control:

· Supporting Public Health and Comfort

· Learning About Various Methods of Control

· Promoting Awareness of Populations and Diseases

· Sharing Prevention Tips with Community Members

“Effective mosquito control requires a full community effort, and we wanted to let Chicagoans know what is being done to control these pests and the important role that everyone in the community plays,” said Central Life Sciences Business Manager John Neberz. The Schaumburg-based insect-control company developed the campaign to support local mosquito abatement districts and public health offices through public awareness and by providing them with free posters, door hangers and pamphlets to use within their communities.

The initiative is a follow up to 2016’s “World’s Deadliest” campaign that compared the dangers of mosquitoes to some more commonly feared natural threats, and the Chicago program included posters, street signage and an 11-foot mosquito sculpture perched atop a bus shelter in the city’s Loop. This year’s materials feature illustrated infographics that display key facts about mosquitoes and the diseases they spread and relates them to some of Chicago’s most popular landmarks and attractions.

According to Roger Nasci, Director of the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District, the campaign helps to deliver an important message about the critical work being done to control mosquitoes and protect the public health.

“West Nile virus has been active in our area and has caused disease in humans each year since it was first discovered in Illinois in 2002. While mosquito control programs like ours work to reduce the number of biting mosquitoes in the community, residents can assist us by identifying and removing sources of mosquitoes in their own yards and can further reduce their risk of disease by properly using repellents and other personal protection techniques. A high profile program like the SLAP campaign helps us get the word out to residents so that their actions can make a difference.”

The North Shore Mosquito Abatement District (NSMAD) is a local government agency headquarted in Northfield that is responsible for controlling the regional mosquito population in order to reduce the risk of disease from mosquito borne illness and minimize the negative impact mosquitoes have on the quality of life for the 330,000 residents and visitors of northeast Cook County.

The SLAP campaign website features information and tips about what families can do to help protect themselves from mosquito-borne diseases and steps they can take to help stop them from spreading. Visitors to the site can also access a custom section where they enter their ZIP code to receive contact information for the nearest mosquito abatement district and public health department in their community, which they can contact to learn about local control efforts. For mosquito abatement and public health professionals, the site also features a portal to request free educational resources customized with their logo and information for use in their local communities.

The public is also invited to join the conversation on the official SLAP Mosquito Awareness Facebook page, which provides additional prevention tips and the latest news on mosquito borne diseases.

» via the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District

Top photo via Patch file