Mosquito Eradication in Pennsylvania 



William V. Becker 



Chief, Mosquito Eradication^ Section, Engineering Division, Penn- 

 sylvania Department of Health 



The eradication of mosquitoes was first undertaken by the Penn- 

 sylvania Department of Health in the summer of 1918 as a war 

 measure for the protection of the industrial workers in the Phila- 

 delphia district, particularly at the League Island Navy Yard, the 

 Hog Island Shipyard and the Westinghouse Electric and Manu- 

 facturing Company. A cooperative campaign was organized in 

 which the State of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia, the 

 Emergency Fleet Corporation and the local industries participated 

 under the general supervision and direction of the Pennsylvania 

 Department of Health. 



The territory placed under control extended from South Phila- 

 delphia down the Delaware River for a distance of 10 miles. It 

 embraced an area of roughly 20 square miles of which approximately 

 8,000 acres was marsh-land lying from i to 3 feet below mean high 

 water and protected, for the most part, by dikes. It contained some 

 100 miles of old water-courses, drainage channels and ditches a large 

 portion of which were in such condition as to be virtually useless. 

 With one exception, the entire territory was drained by means of 

 automatic tide-gates which, because of the tidal conditions in this 

 region, did not average more than one hour's play on each low tide. 

 As a result of these conditions effective drainage did not exist, 

 thousands of acres of marshland were either totally or partially 

 submerged and the water in the creeks and ditches was stagnant, giv- 

 ing rise to enormous broods of Culex and Aedes mosquitoes with a 

 dangerous proportion of Anopheles.' 



The engineering and biological problems involved in controlling 

 the mosquito breeding in this territory were clearly indicated. It 

 was necessary to restore the existing drainage facilities to full 

 efficiency, to extend them where they were found to be inadequate 

 and to install pumps to free the drainage of the area from, depend- 

 ence on tidal conditions. During the development of the engineering 

 plans which it was realized could not be entirely completed before 

 the close of the active season, the biological control of breeding be- 

 came the vital factor in the successful outcome of the campaign. 

 In addition to the usual operations this phase of the work involved 



ICQ 



