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Anastasia Mosquito Control experiments with ways to stop Zika spread

Officials at Anastasia Mosquito are conducting an experiment on mosquitoes that can carry the Zika virus to see if they can stop them from laying eggs.

The experiment involves putting a cotton ball that is infused with a chemical that targets the reproductive system in a cup along with the mosquito.

“The suspicion right now is that if it eats it, it may become sterile, which would be very, very valuable to us,” Chris Bibbs said.

The department is also considering purchasing a wind tunnel to test their equipment.

“The wind tunnel will provide us a tool that can test chemicals and machinery and make sure the products we use behave like we expect them to,” said Bibbs.

Action News Jax went along with David Strickland as he took samples of water near Northeast Florida Regional Airport and Eagle Creek Subdivision.

He checked for mosquito larvae, but didn’t find any.