{"id":5363,"date":"2026-07-25T05:04:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5363"},"modified":"2026-07-25T05:04:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:04:44","slug":"how-pesticides-are-breeding-resistant-mosquitoes-in-wealthy-wake-neighborhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5363","title":{"rendered":"How pesticides are breeding resistant mosquitoes in wealthy Wake neighborhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"summary\">AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article280707640.html\">Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mosquitoes in Wake County are rapidly evolving resistance to the insecticides most commonly used to kill them, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ncsu.edu\/2026\/07\/backyard-mosquito-sprays-may-be-fueling-insecticide-resistance\/\">two new studies<\/a> from NC State University. The trend is strongest in wealthier neighborhoods where residents spray more often.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5361\">Press access blocked at some NC Senate race events. How does it impact the public?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Researchers tracking the invasive tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) found that a genetic mutation making the insect resistant to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idph.state.il.us\/envhealth\/factsheets\/pyrethroid.htm\">pyrethroids<\/a>, the group of chemicals used in most backyard mosquito sprays, went from undetectable in 2016 to present in over 80% of sampled locations by 2023. Nearly 40% of all mosquitoes sampled that year carried the mutation.<\/p>\n<p>A companion study found that resistance was tightly linked with neighborhood age and property values. Based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bioone.org\/journals\/journal-of-the-american-mosquito-control-association\/volume-33\/issue-4\/17-6669.1\/Regional-Survey-of-Mosquito-Control-Knowledge-and-Usage-In-North\/10.2987\/17-6669.1.short\">previous work<\/a> that showed affluent North Carolinians apply insecticide more often, these results suggest that older, wealthier neighborhoods are driving the increase in resistance through more frequent spraying.<\/p>\n<p>Martha Burford Reiskind<\/p>\n<p>Researchers were shocked at how rapidly resistance increased, said Martha Burford Reiskind, associate professor of biological sciences at NC State and co-author of both papers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe never thought it would look like this,\u201d Burford Reiskind said. \u201cWe were shocked at how rapidly it rose, given that we don\u2019t have centralized mosquito control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The stakes go beyond itchy ankles. Tiger mosquitoes can transmit dengue, Zika and dog heartworm, and pyrethroids are the safest tool available if a local outbreak occurs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we want is a really effective tool to really bring down populations rapidly, and the most effective way to do that is with pyrethroids,\u201d Burford Reiskind said. \u201cWe want to keep them susceptible. They are truly the most deadly animal on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jennifer Baltzegar, assistant professor at Augusta University in Georgia and lead author of the resistance study, cautioned against reading the findings as proof the chemicals no longer work. She calls the mutation a sentinel \u2014 an early sign that resistance is building, not proof that insecticides have stopped working.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s an immediate concern for failure of pyrethroids and an inability to manage an outbreak if one were to happen,\u201d Baltzegar said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s worth people knowing about and caring about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The good news, researchers say, is that many effective ways to reduce mosquito populations don\u2019t involve chemicals. Tiger mosquitoes breed almost exclusively in small pockets of standing water, not ponds or wetlands, according to Cole Butler, lead author of the socioeconomic study and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s almost always artificial containers,\u201d Butler said. \u201cThat\u2019s 90% of the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Butler said flowerpots, kiddie pools, clogged gutters and forgotten dog bowls are common culprits. Because larvae take about 10 days to <a href=\"https:\/\/dph.illinois.gov\/topics-services\/environmental-health-protection\/structural-pest-control\/asian-tiger-mosquito.html\">mature<\/a>, dumping standing water weekly, especially in bird baths, breaks that cycle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you dump it and refill it every week, you\u2019re fine,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n<p>For pet owners worried about heartworm, Baltzegar recommends a lower-impact alternative to spraying: monthly prevention pills.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5359\">Taylor Frankie Paul Defends Being on Social Media As She Faces Legal Issues<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHonestly, I would recommend a homeowner give their dog the prevention before spraying,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s a much more effective way to prevent heartworm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For water that can\u2019t be emptied, Burford Reiskind recommends <a href=\"https:\/\/newhanover.ces.ncsu.edu\/environment-natural-resources\/managingmosquitos\/\">larvicide dunks<\/a>, floating blocks harmless to other animals that kill mosquito larvae before they become adults. For households that do spray, she recommends rotating products and strategies instead of using the same product repeatedly, which leads to resistance.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Reiskind, professor of entomology at NC State and co-author on both papers, frames insecticide effectiveness as a shared resource that individual spraying decisions can erode for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInsecticide susceptibility is a public good, right?\u201d Reiskind said. \u201cWe want to be able to kill our mosquitoes when we need to kill them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That risk, he said, should be of particular concern to the pest-control industry itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe private mosquito control companies should be the most interested in it and concerned about it, because it really suggests that their industry is going to be threatened,\u201d Reiskind said. \u201cIf what you spray doesn\u2019t work, the free market will take care of you. You\u2019ll be out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The idea for the research actually came from industry. Reiskind said a pest-control company had mentioned getting repeat calls from a single, wealthier Raleigh neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had told us that there were a couple of areas in Raleigh where they would often get callbacks,\u201d Reiskind said. \u201cIt was also like a wealthy older neighborhood, and so we were just kind of wondering, like, well, maybe there\u2019s resistance there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Researchers say the response from the public has been encouraging. Homeowners who let the team set traps on their property received nothing in return but the findings themselves, Baltzegar noted. Butler said residents were consistently curious rather than defensive when he explained the research door to door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFolks are eager to know about it and learn more and do something if you engage with them,\u201d Butler said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make the public informed about the consequences of certain actions, so that they may make steps in the future to address those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Buford Reiskind emphasized that the trend toward resistance can still be undone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is happening, (but) we\u2019re in the early stages of it,\u201d Burford Reiskind said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot we can do to turn it around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=5357\">Popular restaurant chain opens third Triangle location in Durham<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"summary gray\">This story was originally published <span class=\"inline-block\">July 24, 2026 at 5:40 AM<span>.<\/span><\/span><!-- --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New NC State studies find pyrethroid resistance in tiger mosquitoes rising fast in Wake County, linked to frequent spraying in older, wealthier neighborhoods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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