Is Murray Valley encephalitis a reason to get a pest treatment?

It's a reason to avoid bites. The detections were a public health alert from SA Health; protection comes from screens, clothing, repellent and removing breeding water. A yard treatment can reduce mosquitoes for a while, but it isn't a health measure.

Who do I call about mosquitoes on public land?

The Rural City of Murray Bridge. We couldn't read its mosquito pages to confirm what it does, so ask the council directly.

Do you cover the towns around Murray Bridge?

Yes. The form takes any Australian postcode; tell us where you are and what you've seen.

Pest control Murray Bridge: mosquitoes, bees and wasps

What's different in Murray Bridge

Mosquito viruses along the Murray

In January 2023, SA Health reported Murray Valley encephalitis virus in mosquito monitoring traps in five River Murray council areas, Murray Bridge among them. It also flagged very high detections of Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses that season.

A trap result isn't a case

A virus found in a mosquito trap means it's circulating in mosquitoes, not that anyone nearby is ill. For symptoms, see a doctor; for current alerts, follow SA Health and the Rural City of Murray Bridge.

Possums are protected

South Australia's environment department says backyard possums are most likely brushtails or ringtails, native and protected. Catch and release in SA needs a permit, and the possum must be let go on the same property within 50 metres, after dusk.

Mosquitoes: what helps, and what a pest business can do

Most backyard mosquitoes breed in water you can tip out: buckets, tyres, toys, bird baths, pet bowls, pot plant bases, blocked gutters and unscreened rainwater tanks. NSW Health's guidance is to clear water holders at least weekly, since eggs need about a week of standing water to develop.

A pest business can treat around a yard to cut mosquito numbers for a while. Nobody can promise that prevents disease, and screens, long sleeves and repellent still do the heavy lifting.

Bees and wasps sting

Keep people and pets away from any nest or swarm, and don't spray it. After a sting, call 000 for noisy breathing, a swollen tongue or throat, wheeze, dizziness or collapse. If someone has anaphylaxis, use their adrenaline autoinjector first, then call 000.

Bee swarm, bees in a wall, or wasps?

A cluster of bees on a branch or fence is a swarm, and a local beekeeper is usually the person to ring. A steady line of bees into a gap in the house is a colony that has moved in, and that's a pest business's job; our form takes those, not swarms.

South Australia's environment department says European wasps can be highly aggressive if disturbed, and points people with a nest on their property to a pest controller holding the right licence.

South Australian licence rules

SA Health issues pest licences under the Controlled Substances Act 1984.
A business needs a Pest Controller's Licence; each employee applying pesticides needs a Pest Management Technician's licence.
Ask to see it before work starts, or check with SA Health's pest licensing team.

What we'd do about pests in Murray Bridge

Tip out standing water every week through the warmer months, and cover up when mosquitoes are biting. For bees in a wall, a wasp nest or a possum in the roof, tap it with your postcode.

Want someone to look at it?

Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.

What have you seen?