Ouachita Parish will vote this weekend on a tax renewal to fund the Ouachita Parish Mosquito Abatement District. The mosquito abatement scientist monitor dangerous diseases spread by insects such as Zika, West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis, Yellow Fever and others.
Credit Cory Crowe / KEDM News
The tax renewal generates nearly 2 million dollars per year that is used in scientific insect control and disease monitoring. The area is sprayed by trucks and airplanes when mosquito numbers meet certain criteria. The last major mosquito disease outbreak was a West Nile outbreak in 2001.
The 1.98 mill renewal would last for 10 years.