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134th Public Health assist in testing mosquitos in Alaska

By Senior Airman Melissa Dearstone, 134th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs / Published August 14, 2016

Tech Sgt. Yolanda Garner and Senior Airman Stacy Alexander, both with the 134th Medical Group Public Health, inspect the mosquitos that were trapped after placing the traps the day prior during a temporary duty assignment at Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson July 10-19. Mosquitos are trapped and tested for diseases weekly during the summer months due to the large numbers of them. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by: Senior Airman Melissa Dearstone)
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Tech Sgt. Yolanda Garner and Senior Airman Stacy Alexander, both with the 134th Medical Group Public Health, inspect the mosquitos that were trapped after placing the traps the day prior during a temporary duty assignment at Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson July 10-19. Mosquitos are trapped and tested for diseases weekly during the summer months due to the large numbers of them. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by: Senior Airman Melissa Dearstone)

Tech Sgt. Yolanda Garner with the 134th Medical Group Public Health helps hang a mosquito trap at Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Alaska during a temporary duty assignment July 10-19. She helped place the traps in eight different locations around the base, all while learning the procedures on how the local public health team tests the mosquito population there. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Melissa Dearstone)
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Tech Sgt. Yolanda Garner with the 134th Medical Group Public Health helps hang a mosquito trap at Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Alaska during a temporary duty assignment July 10-19. She helped place the traps in eight different locations around the base, all while learning the procedures on how the local public health team tests the mosquito population there. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Melissa Dearstone)

Airmen from the 134th Medical Group Public Health helped place these mosquito traps at eight different locations around Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Alaska during a temporary duty assignment July 10-19. It is imperative to test mosquitos to make sure they are not carrying any diseases that could endanger the local population. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by: Senior Airman Melissa Dearstone)
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Airmen from the 134th Medical Group Public Health helped place these mosquito traps at eight different locations around Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Alaska during a temporary duty assignment July 10-19. It is imperative to test mosquitos to make sure they are not carrying any diseases that could endanger the local population. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by: Senior Airman Melissa Dearstone)

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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Airmen from the 134th Medical Group Public Health helped with placing and capturing mosquitoes to be tested for various diseases while on temporary duty assignment July 10-19.

Mosquitos are very prevalent in the area and are tested weekly during the summer months.

"We place mosquitos traps in six to eight locations weekly between the months of May- August," said Senior Airman Marc Dennis with the 673rd Aerospace Medical Squadron Public Health. "After we capture the mosquitos, we freeze them overnight and send them to USAFSAM to get tested for any diseases such as the Zika virus."

Senior Airman Stacy Alexander with the 134th MDG Public Health said that working with other bases Public Health departments helps both teams learn new techniques that they may be able to implement at their home stations in order to simplify procedures.

"There's always an easier way to do things, so going to other bases and seeing the way they do things is always nice," said Alexander. "There are things that hopefully we will tweak in our procedures when we get back home to make things easier, and vice versa for the other bases we visit."

The mosquito traps that were placed are battery operated and require dry ice to help lure the mosquitos to the trap. Once the mosquitos are near the trap, the battery operated fan helps to vacuum the insects into the net.