Funding concerns for mosquito testing

New Haven (WTNH) - Its federal funding has been slashed in half, but the scientist who runs Connecticut's mosquito testing program says he will not let lack of money stop their mission.

Dr. Theodore Andreadis told News Channel 8 tracking West Nile Virus is critical to keeping people safe.

People who live along the I-95 corridor or in the Hartford area in Connecticut are in the mosquito hot zone so to speak. 91 communities will have traps set to catch mosquitoes and test them.

Dr. Andreadis says within the next week West Nile will crop up. It has already been found in New Jersey.

"If [people] have got any standing bodies of water around the home -- bird baths, discarded cans, tires, rain barrels -- these should be emptied because these will produce mosquitoes, and they'll produce the right kinds that do transmit West Nile Virus," he said.

Dr. Andreadis says his program is responsible for discovering West Nile Virus back in the mid 1990's. They have been funded since then by federal and state dollars.

This past year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slashed its contribution by more than $100,000, and there's no state budget yet.

Dr. Andreadis is concerned, but says he will continue to keep scientists working on the mission while policy makers fight over the budget.

Later this morning News Channel 8 will be going on a hunt for mosquitoes to see how this program works.