Fight the Bite
Protect yourself against disease carrying mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are a fact of life in the South West, with many large breeding sites located close to the places we live, work and play. Mosquitoes can at times impact significantly on the health and lifestyle of residents and visitors to the region. Ross River and Barmah Forest virus cases are reported regularly in the Leschenault and Geographe regions and can have serious effects on the health of those who contract them.
What are we doing about it?
Due to the threat of mosquito borne diseases and the lifestyle impacts high numbers of mosquitoes can create, the your local government agencies are working together in an ongoing program to reduce mosquito populations for residents and visitors. Some of our activities include
- Pre Treatment surveillance
- Aerial Spraying
- Fogging
- Ground Treatments
- Education
- Post Treatment surveillance
- Mosquito Mark and Recapture Project
What can you do?
Whilst your local government agencies are working hard to achieve reduced mosquito populations, there are important steps we need you to take including…
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Cover Up
Cover up with light, long sleeved clothing that covers as much of your skin as possible
Repel
Apply a mosquito repellent, preferably with DEET or Picardin
Clean Up
Clean up your yard to remove breeding areas
Stay up to date with our latest news
POV: you get handed this on game night... looks about as fun as being bitten by mozzies![]()
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#FightTheBite by applying a repellent, covering up and avoid being bitten.
*Translated video.![]()
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Don't be complacent when it comes to mosquito repellent, it only takes one bite to contract a mosquito borne disease.![]()
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#FightTheBite by applying a repellent, covering up and avoid being bitten.
Today we are undertaking our 4th aerial mosquito treatment of the season in the highlighted areas south of Dalyellup. 🚁🦟![]()
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These treatments form an important pillar of your local government teams mosquito management strategy, but we need you to do your part to #staysafe as well.![]()
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#FightTheBite by applying a repellent, covering up and avoid being bitten.
Have you seen our Aerial Treatment Helicopters around? 🚁🦟![]()
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We do our part to manage the mosquito population, make sure you are doing yours too #FightTheBite by applying a repellent, covering up and avoid being bitten.
Monitoring, treatment and education are the three pillar of our public health campaign around mosquito borne diseases. ![]()
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Your environmental health officers from City of BunburyShire of Dardanup and Shire of Harvey we're out and about sharing their expertise at the Brunswick Show spreading the #FightTheBite message.![]()
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Did you see their stand and score any giveaways?
Why don't you just fog all the mosquitoes? 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩![]()
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The short answer is that given the geography of WA and the delicate nature of our ecosystems, it is not the safest and most effective way of managing mosquito numbers.![]()
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As a general rule, we don't spray or fog mosquitoes in the South West due to three factors...![]()
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❌ Adulticiding (fogging) is ineffective in our area given the large distance (~10km) that the mosquito species travel. Treating the entire southwest coastal wetlands area from Preston beach to Yallingup (more than 100km of coastline) would be impossible and environmentally very damaging.![]()
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❌ Fogging is non-specific, that is, it kills other beneficial organisms such as bees, dragonflies etc. Fogging must be planned as it is heavily dependent on weather conditions, winds of less than four knots are required to prevent the product from drifting over sensitive wetlands and water bodies. Some adulticide chemicals are lethal to aquatic life, especially fish and can be toxic to birds.![]()
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❌Fogging has no residual effect; so fogging will not affect eggs or larvae or emerging adults in just a few days.![]()
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This is why we have a large-scale program in place for treating wetlands with larvicide pellets that include an insect growth regulator, this mimics the juvenile hormone and prevents the adult mosquito from emerging. It enables the larval and pupal stages of the mosquito to remain in the food chain as a food source for other animals.![]()
These treatments are safe for other species and have no effect on other insects or aquatic life, which are essential for a healthy environment.![]()
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You can find out more at
Does fogging for mosquitoes actually work? | Fight the Bite
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The short version is no. Fogging for mosquitoes only kills adults in the area affected by insects and can have a serious environmental impact on other insects, amphibians and fish if it goes over a wa...🦟"Mozzies don't bite me"![]()
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If you're one of the people mozzies don't bother, then please listen to Lee Maree. It only takes one bite, and chances are you won't notice it.![]()
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Make sure you cover up and apply a mosquito repellent whenever you are outside.