That whiny little voice you are hearing beneath the cacophony of the ubiquitous pandemic—the one that says, “See you soon”—is a mosquito.
Heidi Porter, Bedford’s Director of Health and Human Services, told the Board of Health this week that the town will be ready. “A lot of mosquito-related work is being done,” she said.
Porter noted that she is a member of the commonwealth’s task force called Mosquito Control for the 21st Century. There are 17 members, plus ex-officio state agency delegates, representing a range of medical and environmental constituencies. Porter is the representative for towns in mosquito control districts and is one of two members in public health. She also is on the executive board of the East Middlesex Mosquito Control Commission
“Regionally we may have a bad triple E year,” said Porter, referring to the lethal eastern equine encephalitis. Complicating the effort, she noted, is that the pesticide being used was impacted by PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which don’t break down and can lead to adverse health effects. She said the commission is working on this with its vendor and the task force is looking at alternatives to pesticides.
As the effort against Covid-19 continues, “we don’t need to go from one major issue into another one but we prepared,” she told the board. “Great messaging” is in the works.
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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