Sacramento County to release more than 2 million mosquitoes in Rosemont to fight invasive species

Data shows Sacramento County's Rosemont neighborhood has become a breeding hotspot for a species of mosquito that can carry dangerous diseases.

On Tuesday, the skies over the community will be filled with a swarm of more than 140,000 mosquitoes that are being set free. The Sacramento Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District says it will then be intentionally releasing two million more mosquitoes in the neighborhood over the next 16 weeks.

"These mosquitoes are actually a public health threat," said Luz Maria Robles, with the Sacramento Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District. "They have the capability of transmitting debilitating diseases such as Zika, dengue, or chikungunya."  

The insects are all sterile males, which don't bite people, and when they breed with wild female mosquitoes, the eggs won't hatch.

"We need to have at least 10 sterile male mosquitoes per one wild male to outcompete them," Maria Robles said.

Last year, the district tried this technique in the South Natomas neighborhood for the first time and they say it was successful.

"We were able to reduce mosquitoes by about 40%," Maria Robles said.

The district says it has been going door to door in the Rosemont neighborhood with flyers notifying people about the mosquito release.

Sue Weaver says she supports the eradication effort.

"There's probably 10 million mosquitoes here, so that will be great," Weaver said. "That will make a difference."

The total cost is $136,000 to purchase the mosquitoes from a vendor in Kentucky.

But the district is also looking at building its own breeding lab here in Sacramento that could one day produce up to a million sterile mosquitoes a week.

"That would significantly reduce the cost," Maria Robles said. "Right now, that's something that we're considering."

Google may also soon be helping to fight the bite.

The high-tech company has filed an application with federal regulators asking for permission to release up to 16 million sterile male mosquitoes a year in California.