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New site will track mosquitoes and create faster county response times

The Richland County Vector's Office is switching from paper only to digitize its data.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County is stepping into the future with a new way to track mosquitoes and their illnesses.

A new tracking website will assist the department in responding to resident calls.

"Yes, I'll quit scratching," Richland County resident Rick Brazell said.

They're everywhere; that's what Rick Brazell from Eastover says about the mosquitoes near his home. 

Robin Mathias lives in Richland County, as well. She said she's been fighting a battle against the tiny insects all summer.

"I've noticed the little mosquito babies are swarming around in the water so I've seen quite a few coming in and out," Mathias said. "I've been fighting. I just went and bought bug spray."

This is where the Richland County Vector's Office comes in. It helps track and handle mosquito infestations.

"We do not do work in the City of Columbia, but we primarily work on disease response. We do some nuisance work, but disease is what we focus on," Olin Towery with the department said.

The Vector's Office can also track the population of mosquitoes throughout the county.

Usually, to track diseases, the department uses a paper system, until now.

"We got a program called Map Vision. It gives us the ability to digitize our program, but in the past we have binders that we keep breeding sites that we know of in the county," Towery said.

The department said that with this new $50,000 tracking website in place, it will streamline the response time for residents experiencing issues.

"When officers are out in the field and a call will come in and officers can say 'Hey, you need to go address this here,' and they can look on the map and take them right to it to get the job done," Towery said.

The department says this faster process will be fully transferred by next summer.

If you have a mosquito problem you'd like to report, call the Richland County Ombudsman's Office, which will send the request to the vector's office.

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