July 7, 2016 — As the New Jersey Department of Health continues its push to educate the public and the medical community about the threat to pregnant women posed by the Zika virus, the state Department of Environmental Protection is ramping up efforts to clamp down on Jersey’s mosquito population.
Experts believe the Aedes aegypti type of mosquito, usually associated with Zika transmission, may be in New Jersey, while a close relative, Aedes albopictus, is definitely here, and it has been known in the past to transmit the disease, which can cause severe birth defects.
“This year the county mosquito control agencies and the DEP are fighting with more intensity because of the potential Zika virus. We’re now stepping up our game right across the state and we’re working with those county agencies,” said NJ DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.
A big part of that effort involves using fish that eat mosquito eggs.