Seminole County uses chickens to identify the diseases that mosquitoes may be carrying

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Seminole County is keeping a close eye on the mosquito population this spring and summer after an abnormal surge in the pests, which kept crews busy fogging this past winter.

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The county is using chickens to help.

The birds will help determine what illnesses mosquitoes are carrying if the bugs bite you.

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It was deployment day Monday in Seminole County for Sentinel chickens.

One hundred chickens will be the first line of defense to determine whether or not there are any mosquito-borne illnesses in Seminole County.

Each year, the county recruits new chickens to take on the task of getting bit by pesky mosquitoes.

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The chickens get their blood drawn, tagged, and placed into cages, and they are shipped off to various areas of the county, where they will spend the next several months doing important work.

Mosquito Control Program manager Theresa Jones says they will look to see if the chickens develop arbovirus antibodies that could be the link to West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine, and Highlands J.

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The chickens are even more important this year after a bad mosquito outbreak in Seminole County this past winter.

“This winter has been a warm, wet winter. So yes, we were fogging later, we had more human disease vectors later in the season from people traveling.” Jones said.

The chickens will have their blood drawn every two weeks to see if they have picked up any illnesses from mosquitoes.

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