History of Mosquito Control at Rutgers

New Jersey is the only state that mandates its state land-grant university to research and recommend solutions for mosquito control. This is the result of the vision of John B. Smith. Smith, then a lawyer, was sitting in court one day when he realized that he was more interested in watching the flies on the courthouse wall than the case in which he was involved. That's when he decided to give up his law practice and follow his passion. When Rutgers formed a Department of Entomology in 1899, Smith was hired as the State Entomologist.

Smith was a dynamic academic. He published many volumes on insect pests, but mosquitoes remained his primary interest. Responding to complaints about biting mosquitoes in New Brunswick, Smith realized that the offenders were not produced nearby, but were from the salt marshes, which were miles away. He recognized that these mosquitoes were flying long distances from their larval habitat and therefore posed a statewide problem.

Smith went to the legislature in Trenton to propose a statewide coordinated effort for mosquito control. He even proposed that, with his plan in place, New Jersey would be able to develop a tourism industry at the New Jersey shore. The legislature was incredulous, and, the story goes, openly laughed at his proposal. But Smith went ahead with a small project in the Meadowlands, and demonstrated that mosquitoes invading Jersey City could be controlled by managing the salt marshes. After his success in Jersey City, his fame grew and his services were increasingly in demand.

Eventually, the state funded his mosquito control projects, and Smith drew up laws that would organize mosquito control on a county basis. His proposed law mandated that mosquito control be based on science, with oversight from the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES). The director would annually review the plans of mosquito control agencies in the state. In addition, NJAES would conduct research on mosquito biology and control, train county biologists, and publish an annual list of pesticide recommendations. The Smith laws were adopted in 1912 and remain in effect with some revisions to this day.

Timeline

The following timeline highlights the people and organizations that are responsible for New Jersey's continuing prominence in this field.

1. 1889 J. B. Smith appointed New Jersey State Entomologist, based at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES).
2. 1901 J. B. Smith declares that the mosquito problem is to be solved through scientific research.
3. 1902 The state legislature authorizes $10,000 for the NJAES to investigate and report on mosquitoes occurring within the state.
4. 1904 J. B. Smith's seminal report, The Mosquitoes of New Jersey, explains the failure of local attempts at mosquito control and convinces the legislature that control of salt-marsh mosquitoes are a state problem, rather than a local problem.
5. 1906 The state legislature endorses a broad program of mosquito control, including the elimination of mosquito larval habitat on the salt marshes. Local work is done through boards of health, but the NJAES is designated as the responsible agency.
6. 1912 J. B. Smith dies on March 12, and is succeeded by Thomas J. Headlee.
7. 1912 The County Mosquito Commission law is passed, placing mosquito control work under the county mosquito extermination commissions. The law specifies that plans of work and budgets of the commissions are subject to the approval of the director of the NJAES.
8. 1914 The New Jersey Mosquito Extermination Association is created.
9. 1921 Thomas J. Headlee forms the Associated Executives of Mosquito Control Work in New Jersey to give superintendents in mosquito control the opportunity to share ideas, discuss emerging problems, and to report on mosquito control within each county at monthly meetings.
10. 1935 Leaders of the New Jersey Mosquito Extermination Association join with colleagues from other states to create the Eastern Association of Mosquito Control Workers.
11. 1944 The Eastern Association of Mosquito Control Workers is renamed the American Mosquito Control Association, the paramount organization in the field today.
12. 1949 Administration of aircraft spraying work becomes a part of the NJAES program.
13. 1956 The State Mosquito Control Commission (SMCC) is established.
14. 1959 An outbreak of 32 cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in coastal New Jersey is the most serious outbreak affecting humans that has ever occurred in the United States.
15. 1960 NJAES builds the Headlee Research Labs and, still working closely with county commissions, assumes primary responsibility for arboviral surveillance.
16. 1964 First significant outbreak of St. Louis Encephalitis in New Jersey, a total of 106 cases were reported. A second outbreak occurs in 1975, with 29 reported cases.
17. 1974 The New Jersey Mosquito Extermination Association changes its name to the New Jersey Mosquito Control Association, Inc.
18. 1999 First outbreak of West Nile virus in the United States. New Jersey's long-standing programs to reduce nuisance and prevent EEE help the state cope with the outbreak.
19. 2006 The Center for Vector Biology is established at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.