About Twin Falls County Pest Abatement District

The Twin Falls County Pest Abatement District has been serving citizens of Twin Falls County since 2009. The District is responsible for controlling black fly and mosquito populations throughout the county to help reduce the risk of pest virus transmission. Currently, Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (transmitted by black flies) and West Nile Virus (transmitted by mosquitoes) are the two diseases of concern for the District.

Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) can threaten horses, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. This disease causes blisters, sores, and sloughing of skin in the mouth, tongue, muzzle, ears and hooves of animals. Animals that are suffering from VSV typically lose weight quickly.  

Biting black flies are capable of spreading the virus to different livestock herds across a county as they travel taking blood meals from different animals. VSV is very contagious among animals that share water troughs or feed bunks. Outbreaks of VSV result in a quarantine of infected animals and possibly surrounding areas for 30 days. This disease can have a serve economic impact on livestock owners. 

WNV was first detected in the United States in 1999 in New York. Five years later, Idaho was impacted by the spread of this virus. In 2006, Idaho led the nation in WNV cases with 38 of 44 counties dealing with this new virus. 

The disease spread quickly through the bird population. Mosquitoes vector the disease from a reservoir host (typically a bird) and then transmit the disease to other mammals. Humans and horses are the most impacted mammals by WNV transmission. 80% of infected people are asymptomatic (show no symptoms of the virus) while 20% of infected people will typically suffer from fever-like symptoms, and rarely more serve symptoms of encephalitis.

The Twin Falls County Pest Abatement District strives to protect public health by implementing environmentally sound practices to control pests. These practices include biological larvicides that specifically target mosquitoes and black flies, public education and interagency coordination on eliminating mosquito habitat, using natural predators such as bluegill fish to reduce mosquito populations, among other sustainable practices.