GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Department of Housing and Residence Education will receive traps designed to stop mosquitoes in their tracks through a donation from SEOUL VIOSYS, a South Korean-based company.
While there are no cases of locally transmitted zika virus on the UF campus, Gainesville or Alachua County, Sharon Blansett, assistant to the associate vice president for UF student affairs, welcomes the mosquito traps as a virus-prevention measure for students living in graduate and family housing.
“The Department of Housing and Residence Education is happy to receive the mosquito traps to help further protect residents living in graduate and family housing from mosquitoes that could potentially transmit viruses,” said Blansett, whose duties include managing UF student housing. “We do not have a mosquito problem at UF, but it’s great to know we’re getting more help in our continued efforts to keep students safe.”
Apartment complexes in UF graduate and family housing include Corry Village, Diamond Village, Maguire Village, Tanglewood Village and University Village South.
Phil Koehler, an entomology professor with the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, said the device, called the MOSCLEAN trap, is well-designed. It uses a combination of carbon dioxide and ultraviolet light – which comes from light-emitting diodes — to attract mosquitoes, then traps them inside via a vacuum-like method.
“It is a very effective way of being able to capture mosquitoes, hopefully before they bite someone,” Koehler said.
Mosquitoes can transmit more than 20 types of viruses, including zika, West Nile, St. Louis encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis, chikungunya and dengue, Koehler said. About 750,000 people die globally each year from mosquito-transmitted diseases.
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Caption: Michael Bartlett from UF Housing installs a mosquito trap donated by SEOUL VIOSYS, as Paul Choi from the South Korean-based company looks on at University Village.
Credit: Camila Guillen, UF/IFAS photography.
By: Brad Buck, 352-294-3303, bradbuck@ufl.edu
Sources: Sharon Blansett, 352-392-2171, ext. 10132, SharonB@housing.ufl.edu
Phil Koehler, 352-392- 2484, pgk@ufl.edu
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