BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana is using a $1 million federal grant to help local communities start new mosquito control programs.
The state health department received the one-time grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state agency says it will divide the money among four parishes or municipalities that don't have an in-house mosquito abatement district and want to start one.
The spending will bolster control efforts aimed at combatting threats from mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and Zika.
Local governments must apply for the funding from the health department. The money can be used to buy equipment and supplies.
The health department also says it will consider giving some of the money to an existing mosquito abatement district if transmission of Zika virus has been discovered there.
