Above: An April 24 report from KUSI on the first mosquito larvicide drop of 2024.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Mosquito breeding season is in full swing. In an effort to mitigate the number of mosquitoes around San Diego County, the Vector Control Program (VCP) will be conducting aerial drops of mosquito larvicide.

Mosquito breeding season is typically from April to October. During this time, the county’s Vector Control Program says it will be dropping mosquito larvicide via helicopter in known mosquito breeding areas that cannot be treated by hand.

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Those aerial applications will take place every three to four weeks on a set schedule; additional applications will take place if needed.

In San Diego County, there are around 27 different species of mosquitoes, with nine having the potential to carry diseases that can spread to humans like West Nile virus, according to the Vector Control Program.

The program noted the larvicide they use is not harmful to pets, people, plants or wildlife, and works to keep mosquitoes from developing into biting adults.

The mosquito larvicide will be dropped across 1,400 acres around 52 local waterways throughout the county, including in Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, San Diego/4S Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, Lakeside, Santee, Chula Vista, Encinitas/Solana Beach, Carlsbad, Oceanside and Fallbrook. View the map of all the locations here.

This year, locations in the Tijuana River Valley with stagnant water are also being treated to protect people living or visiting in that area.

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San Diego County’s 2024 aerial larvicide application schedule:

County Vector Control monitors over 1,600 potential mosquito-breeding areas every year and applies larvicide through a variety of techniques—aerial drops, boats, trucks and hand-crews.

It also gives out free mosquito-eating fish to the public, tracks down and treats neglected swimming pools, tests dead birds for West Nile virus, and monitors mosquito populations for potential mosquito-borne illnesses.

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Residents can report increased mosquito activity, or stagnant, unmaintained swimming pools, and other mosquito-breeding sources, as well as dead birds — dead crows, ravens, jays, hawks and owls — to the County Department of Environmental Health and Quality’s Vector Control Program by calling 858-694-2888 or emailing vector@sdcounty.ca.gov. 

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