Full Notification

On Tuesday, 8/22/17, the Wayne County Department of Health, Veterans, and Community Wellness, Environmental Health section was notified of a press release from the Toledo Area Sanitary District dated 8/21/17. The press release stated that on 8/18/17 a breeding population of Aedes Albopictus (Asian Tiger mosquito) mosquitoes had been discovered in their jurisdiction. This company also has two locations in Michigan; one in Grand Rapids and the other in Livonia. On 8/23/17 a joint inspection was conducted at the Livonia location by Wayne county, MDHHS and MDEQ. At that time adult and larval samples were collected. Confirmation was received today that the adult mosquitoes were aedes albopictus (Asian Tiger mosquito).

We were notified of this developing situation late this morning. It is important to know that while aedes albopictus (Asian Tiger mosquito) are capable of carrying the Zika virus and have been found in Livonia, there is no evidence that the mosquitos found here are infected with the Zika virus. The area the mosquitos were found is an industrial area along the I-96 corridor at Newburgh and Schoolcraft. The Department of Health and Human Services will be the lead contact for questions regarding this. The state of Michigan is putting together a treatment program to eradicate these mosquitos, working with Wayne county and DEQ. We will know more about the treatment procedure in the next couple of days.

The City has been proactive in our mosquito control since 2003 in treating city basins. Any source of standing water is a potential breeding ground for mosquitos. The best defense is to eliminate any sources of standing water such as basins, wading pools, old tires and buckets.

We will keep you updated as soon as more information becomes available.

Please contact the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for further information at 517-373-3740.