Hillsborough Offering Free Fish, Tire Collections to Fight Mosquitos

GIBSONTON, FL – With the number of non-travel Zika cases in Florida on the rise, Hillsborough County is taking proactive steps to help residents fight mosquitoes.

The Hillsborough County Solid Waste Division is hosting two free tire collection events on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help residents reduce the mosquito population by disposing of old tires.

The collections will take place at two Solid Waste facilities: South County Transfer Station at 13000 U.S. Highway 41 in Gibsonton and Hillsborough Heights Community Collection Center at 6209 C.R. 574 in Seffner. All Hillsborough County residents, including those in the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City, are eligible to participate.

At the Gibsonton event, residents will have an opportunity to pick up free fish to aid the control of backyard mosquito breeding. Limited quantities of mosquito fish will be available from Hillsborough County Mosquito Control. All county residents, along residents of MacDill Air Force Base are also invited to pick up free fish during the event.

The county is providing fish as an effective, natural way for residents to help their community to stop the spread of mosquito-borne disease.

Making the most news these days is the Zika virus, is a mosquito-borne illness that presents with a fever, joint pain and rash. The illness typically goes away within a week, but some cases may require hospitalization.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 20, Florida has reported 857 cases of Zika, which has also been linked to severe birth defects. Eighty-nine of those cases are non-travel related.

Mosquito fish are small, native freshwater fish that eat mosquito larvae. Mosquito fish are ideal for controlling mosquito larvae in backyard ponds, birdbaths, fountains, animal troughs, unused swimming pools and other standing water. They require no feeding and care is limited to protecting them from garden sprays, chlorine, or other chemicals used for cleaning.

Mosquito fish do not lay eggs and require no special environment for breeding.

The tire collection is also designed to help control the mosquito population by eliminating sources of standing water. According to Hillsborough County, mosquitos can breed in as little as a bottle cap of water.

Other event restrictions include:

• Each participating residential vehicle will be allowed to dispose of up to 12 tires
• Tires will be accepted with and without rims
• No commercial vehicle tires
• Commercial businesses are prohibited from participating
• Disposal requires a photo ID showing residence in Hillsborough County

These events are being held in partnership with Resource Management Rapid Response Team and Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

For more information, call the Hillsborough County Solid Waste Department at (813) 272-5680.

Image via Alexander G, Flickr, used under Creative Commons