How a Canadian team is fighting mosquitos with drones

Reducing risk of West Nile virus in Ottawa CTV's Peter Szperling has more on how Ottawa Public Health is using drones to help reduce the risk of West Nile virus.

On a mission to manage swarms of mosquitos, team members in New Brunswick are outnumbered by a longshot.

But they have a new drones to help—one to map out the marshes and wetlands, and one to spray a larvicide in areas with standing water.

“Drones are a very novel technology in general, and specifically for mosquito control purposes. It's not something that's super well-established, but is starting to gain traction,” said Caleb Innes, supervisor with Mosquito 360, the mosquito control division for New Brunswick’s Southeast Regional Service Commission.

Moncton, N.B. is situated on the Peticodiac River and surrounded by largescale wetlands, which are major producers of mosquitoes because of all the standing water.

Traditionally, a crew would move through the marshes on something similar to an all-terrain vehicle to map out the area and spray a larvicide where needed. Innes noted that method requires physical contact with the marshes and crews could only reach about 65 to 70 per cent of the land.

Drones will widen their reach.

“With the drone, there's no limitation in terms of the terrain where you can and can't go,” said Innes.

On Monday, winds grounded what would’ve been the team’s first time flying the larvicide-spraying drone. Each flight has to be approved by Nav Canada, and it was simply too windy.

Innes says safety is paramount, adding that controlling mosquitoes with drones way is expected to better for the environment. Instead of going through the marshes and wetlands in vehicles, they can fly and spray with precision.

“It will probably have a pretty significant impact on the volume of larvicide we apply as well, just because it will be so precise, which is always a good thing,” he said.

The team is using a larvicide called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensi, more commonly known as BTI. It’s a naturally occurring bacteria found in soils and only affects biting flies.

Dan Riskin, CTV News’ science and technology specialist, called it a “a targeted way of going after those mosquitoes without wiping out all the other insects that give us benefits, (and) without wiping out nature.”

While Mosquito 360’s mission is to combat a nuisance, as mosquito-borne diseases creep farther north, a more effective mosquito control program could have public health benefits.

“With climate change and shifting climate patterns, it's certainly something that we're maybe not as well insulated from as we'd like to think we are,” said Innes.