Eric Strumpf was a mission-planning specialist in Afghanistan in the first weeks after 9/11 and later in Iraq. Now, the retiring Air Force officer is moving to Colorado to take on a different airborne enemy: mosquitoes.
Strumpf is setting up shop in Greeley as the first Colorado franchisee for Mosquito Joe, one of several private contractors expanding rapidly to prevent the insects from delivering their potentially deadly payloads.
“I am a converted skeptic,” he said. “It flat-out works.”
Strumpf, stationed in Virginia, wanted to protect his wife and daughter, who are semi-allergic to mosquitoes. His neighbor was using Mosquito Joe, and Strumpf gave it a try.
The treatments made such a big difference that he purchased the franchise rights for northern Colorado, where his wife had family connections.
April’s cold temperatures aside, the month’s abundant moisture is expected to set the stage for a stronger-than-average mosquito assault come mid-May. If they aren’t already out, hibernating adults from last season are expected to emerge soon, as are the larvae from eggs that survived the winter.
Headlines about the Zika virus and birth defects, not to mention lingering fears about West Nile virus, are causing more calls to come in, local mosquito-control firms said.
“We are getting a lot of phone calls from people about Zika, but it is more West Nile — people who had it in the past or know somebody,” said Mike Sperry, owner of The Mosquito Authority franchise covering Denver.
For four seasons, Sperry balanced his full-time job with running his franchise. But with requests for help pouring in, he said he will focus full time this year on mosquito control.
Local governments in the early 1900s started taking on mosquito control, in part to prevent outbreaks of malaria. In more modern times, they pay for spray trucks to drive up and down city streets at dawn or dusk during summers.
But those treatments are more akin to armored columns passing down the road. The mist clouds worked if the mosquitoes happened to fly through them. And as Stapleton-area residents in 2014 found out, .
Private contractors offer to go house-to-house fighting the insects, spraying the leaves and shrubs where the bugs are most likely to rest. The practice is known as a “barrier” approach to pest control.
Workers look for any objects that might be capturing water and contributing to an infestation — Frisbees, pet bowls, toys, old tires — and apply larvicide.
“If the city comes up and down your street, they are using the same materials we are using,” said Mosquito Joe CEO Kevin Wilson. “We have a very targeted application.”
Wilson purchased what was a two-truck operation serving Virginia Beach and Norfolk about four years ago and sold his first franchise in 2013. In a testament to surging demand, his firm now has 170 locations across 26 states, with another 80 locations under development.
Strumpf’s Colorado franchise, which is now training mosquito-control crews, represents the company’s Western-most outpost. In Fort Collins, there is a third franchise company called Mosquito Squad.
Zika virus
West Nile and three types of encephalitis viruses are transmitted by mosquitoes in Colorado. In more tropical climates, chikungunya, dengue and are spread by bites from the insects.
Brazil, ground zero of the current Zika outbreak, has about 1.5 million of the 2 million infections estimated in 40 countries.
— a 70-year-old Puerto Rico resident who suffered a bleeding disorder linked to an immune response after a bite.
Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species most commonly associated with the virus in this hemisphere, reaches only into the southeastern states.
Researchers in Mexico, however, have found the virus in Aedes albopictus, the “Asian tiger” mosquito, which has a much broader reach.
According to a , the species has a limited presence in Colorado, mainly in Weld County and the far southeastern corner of the state.
In the favor of humans, Aedes albopictus tends to feast on one victim rather than biting multiple hosts to get its fill of blood. It also prefers rural areas over populated ones. But it is also a daytime biter, making it more resistant to government spraying efforts.
Chet Moore, a retired professor in the microbiology, immunology and pathology department at the veterinary school at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, doubts Colorado will see a Zika outbreak.
West Nile, however, remains a present danger and one that CSU researchers have spent considerable efforts trying to understand. One of Moore’s graduate students captured thousands of adult mosquitoes hibernating in Fort Collins’ storm-sewer system to see whether any were carrying the virus into the new season. So far, the answer appears to be no.
Although the West Nile virus killed vulnerable adults and sickened many others, most infected people have fought off the virus without realizing they even had it.
Zika represents a different level of threat, one that can be sexually transmitted from an infected person. The CDC has directly linked the virus to a and is advising pregnant women against traveling to infested areas.
Like West Nile, many of the adults who get infected with the Zika virus may not even realize it. But symptoms for others can include fever, a rash, joint pain, muscle pain, headaches or sore eyes. Rarer responses include the nervous disorder Guillain-Barré and inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
Cost benefits
The surge in private mosquito-control specialist raises the question of what kind of benefits do homeowners receive for the money they spend treating their yards.
Mosquito Authority charges about $69 to spray a basic yard, while Mosquito Joe charges about $59.
Both firms say treatments last 21 days. At a minimum, two treatments are needed to make sure any eggs from adult survivors of the first round get taken out.
Mosquito Joe recommends eight treatments to last through a summer season, but Sperry said his firm is so confident that two treatments will tackle the problem, the third treatment is on them.
When spraying fails, it is usually because a hidden source of standing water has escaped detection, he said.
Strumpf said a key reason that barrier treatments work is because most mosquitoes are lazy homebodies, never moving more than 100-200 feet from where they were born.
But taking care of one yard doesn’t mean a customer won’t get bitten taking a walk around the neighborhood.
“The number of mosquitoes that we deplete is significant in a backyard context. It is not significant in the overall population,” he said.
Sperry recalled one block where two neighbors on each side of a home sprayed. It wasn’t long before the man in the middle called for help after the mosquitoes migrated his way.
While it is true that some species of mosquito don’t stray far, Moore said researchers have found others that traveled 15 miles or more. He has personally seen them come in on the winds racing through Fort Collins.
Moore said reputable insect-control firms avoid marketing on a message of fear, in part because promising protection and failing to deliver it can leave them liable.
Neighbors opposed to the chemicals in pesticides may object, and both Strumpf and Sperry say they can provide natural alternatives.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture
Those spraying nearby must give advance warning to people on the list so they can leave the area or close their windows. State rules also prohibit applying pesticides when winds are blowing more than 10 miles per hour.
And another source of collateral damage from mosquito-control efforts are bees and other pollinators who have suffered alarming declines in their population.
Moore strongly discourages consumers from getting misting systems that spray pesticide on a set schedule. Not only are they wasteful, but they are so indiscriminate that they can harm beneficial insects.
Barrier sprays, if done properly by trained crews, can be effective, Moore said. But they cost money, and Moore said the treatments are best used for special occasions.
“If you are going to have a party on a weekend, maybe it gives you enough protection for the week,” he said.
But Strumpf swears by the treatments, enough to uproot his family and bet his livelihood on it.
“The value proposition for our business is that outside is fun again. It is all about family enjoyment,” he said. “We provide a benefit, and that is what got me into the business.”
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or @aldosvaldi
