The mosquito nuisance is another of the problems of public health and welfare which have been attacked by the Civic Federation with special vigor and success. In the year 1912 the Committee on Sanitation of the Federation organized a Special Committee on Mosquito Extermination, which raised over $5000 by popular subscription during the first year of its existence. Mr. P. L. Buttrick was engaged as Field Agent, and after .1 general survey of the local mosquito situation. $3500 was spent in draining and filling operations of a more or less permanent character, the remainder of the sum being devoted to securing temporary relief by oiling.

There are three main factors in the New Haven mosquito problem: the salt marshes which breed the salt marsh mosquito, Culex sollicitans; the fresh water marshes and sluggish streams which breed the Anopheles mosquitoes; and fresh water pools, barrels, tin cans, catch basins, roof gutters and other small accumulations of stagnant water in which the rain barrel mosquito, Culex pipiens, thrives. As pointed out by Mr. Buttrick (Report on Mosquito Control, Documents of the Civic Federation of New Haven, No. 10, March, 1913), there are several hundred acres of salt marsh in the immediate vicinity, of New Haven, a large portion of the area offering suitable breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The Cove marsh and Sandy and Old Field Creek marshes in West Haven, the area [46] bordering West River between Congress Avenue and the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad tracks to the west of New Haven, the section along Mill River in the center of the city, the Quinnipiac meadows to the east, and the Fort Hale, Morris Cove and South End marshes in East Haven are the principal areas of this sort. The most important fresh water marsh areas (of special significance as breeders of the Anopheles or malarial mosquito) in 1912 were Old Field Creek marsh above Blohm Street in West Haven, the section bordering West River above Congress Avenue, Beaver Swamp to the northwest, and isolated spots near Lake Whitney and on the watersheds of the Quinnipiac and Farm Rivers and of the brook which flows through East Haven east of Burr and Concord Streets. Drainage operations for the control of mosquito breeding were first begun in 1912 on the Morris Cove meadows, where 191 acres were drained, and 86 acres of the South End marsh, 81 acres in the lower West River Valley and 17 acres near Fort Hale were also treated.

In 1915 an Act Providing for the Elimination of Mosquito Breeding Places or Areas was passed (Chapter 264, Public Acts of 1915), giving power to the director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station to make rules and orders concerning the elimination of mosquitoes and mosquito breeding places or areas, to ascertain where mosquitoes are breeding, and to survey, drain, fill or otherwise eliminate any mosquito breeding place. Subject to appeal to the courts by aggrieved parties, it was provided that the director shall drain, fill, or otherwise treat such areas, whenever funds have been provided for the purpose by the state or any city, borough or town, or by private contributions; but no appropriation was made by the Legislature for carrying out the purposes of the act. It was further provided that the city, town or borough in which such improvements are made shall keep drains obstructed and maintain suitable tide gates for keeping them in operation.

Four acres of marsh east of West River, near its mouth, were drained at the expense of the railroad in 1915, and about 90 acres on the west shore of West River between Spring Street and Congress Avenue were drained by private subscription in 1916. The Board of Finance has included in the 1917 budget an appropriation of $10,000 which it is believed will clear up some of the worst of the serious mosquito breeding areas which remain within the city limits (Fort Hale marshes, the shores of the lower Quinnipiac, areas still undrained in the West River Valley and Beaver Swamp).

The Anti-Mosquito Committee, Inc., has kept an inspector in the field each summer to locate mosquito breeding places and keep existing drainage ditches in good condition.

In general, progress in the solution of the mosquito problem of New [47] Haven may be considered most satisfactory and the completion of the drainage system planned for the coming year should bring substantial relief. In such projects, however, it is important that the diminution of the general mosquito nuisance to be obtained by the drainage of extensive salt marsh areas should not receive exclusive attention at the expense of the less obvious but more important problem of controlling fresh water areas which breed the malarial mosquito. Some of the worst places of this kind in Beaver Swamp and along West River have been eliminated and the Park Commission and the Civic Federation have done a considerable amount of oiling during the past few summers. Yet the Anopheles mosquitoes are far too abundant in New Haven and the malaria which results is a serious factor in the sickness rate of the city.

Eleven physicians interviewed by us have courteously furnished us with records of 85 cases of malaria seen by them during 1916 and the location of these cases is plotted in Fig. 14. It will be noted that these data, which are of course very incomplete (twenty other physicians interviewed had all seen many cases but had no detailed records), indicate distinct centers of infection in the neighborhood of West River, Beaver Swamp, Mill River (near East Rock Park) and in Fair Haven.

This is a problem which we believe deserves the very earnest attention of the city authorities. The salt marsh mosquito is a nuisance, but the malarial mosquito is a serious menace to health, and the opposition of private property owners (which as we are informed has delayed the clearing up of Beaver Swamp) should not be permitted to stand ill the way of a vigorous campaign against this insect. We cannot believe that the courts, would sustain any appeal against Chapter 264 of the Acts of 1915 when a direct health menace was involved. We therefore urge as

Recommendation XI. That in the drainage operations planned for 1917 the fresh water areas which are likely to breed malarial mosquitoes (such as those in Beaver Swamp, on the shores of West River and of Lake Whitney, and in East Haven) should receive first attention.

It must be remembered that the control of the malarial mosquito requires not only the drainage of extensive swampy breeding areas, but a constant surveillance to detect small isolated breeding places. Anopheles rnaculipennis is commonly found in sluggishly running streams and is comparatively easy to control, but A. punctipennis, which recent studies have shown is also a carrier of malaria, may thrive in all sorts of small accumulations of standing water. The suppression of these insects is an important part of the public health campaign and should be systematically undertaken by the Board of Health. The Board now has a regulation prohibiting the exposure of "any can, kettle, pail, barrel or other receptacle containing rain or stagnant water; unless the same is effectively [48] screened against mosquitoes." One of the sanitary inspectors of the Health Department devotes a part of his time during the summer months to the enforcement of this regulation. In the latter part of the summer of 1915 he made 300 inspections of vacant lots and found 53 that contained receptacles or pools of stagnant water. All but three were cleaned up on his request, and the others under threat of prosecution by the City Attorney.

The regulation cited above should be broadened so as to cover other mosquito breeding accumulations of water not in "receptacles." Furthermore we believe that a definite attempt should be made to gain a complete knowledge of the prevalence of malaria in New Haven and of its relation to Anopheles breeding places.

Recommendation XII. That the Board of Health modify its regulations in regard to mosquito breeding receptacles so as to declare any accumulation of stagnant water in which mosquitoes breed to be a public nuisance.

Recommendation XIII. That the Board of Health adopt a regulation declaring malaria to be a notifiable disease and that provision be made for investigating each case as reported its order to determine the existence of local foci of infection.