The Nome Nugget

Mosquitoes Face New Weapon

That perennial pest, the mosquito, will be subject to control this summer by the powerful insecticide, malathion, thanks to a ruling of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The ruling opens a new era of control for species which have become resistant to DDT and other chemicals.

Federal acceptance means that public health and sanitation agencies, resort operators, campers, industrial concerns and home owners will have available a low hazard and highly effective insecticide for outdoor control of all flies, mosquitos and mosquito larvae.

Malathion is a development of American Cyanamid Company. It has been tested for mosquito control during the past two years by U.S.D.A. state and local agencies.

Malathion was used in 1954 on California's Central Valley by the State Department of Public Health and the Merced County Mosquito Abatement District to wipe out a severe infestation of the dread Culex tarsalis, a carrier of sleeping sickness. This mosquito had become resistant to DDT. Threatened with an infestation of epidemic proportions, officials tried malathion and found that it killed all mosquitos within 50 yards of the spray.

Further evidence of malathion's effectiveness against mosquitos and houseflies is accumulating in southern Florida where it is eradicating a new infestation of the Mediterranean fruit fly. Malathion was selected to combat this pest because of its effective kill, ranging up to 99 per cent, and its low hazards for men, birds and animals.