The first line of defence against West Nile virus is a student on a scooter leaning over a sewer grate. And no, they aren't handing out parking tickets. About 1,200 times a day, Gary Hazelton stops his red Honda scooter, spoons a quarter teaspoon of mosquito larvicide into a storm sewer and on the upswing sprays paint on the metal grating before riding off to the next drain in the road.

Hazelton is part of a little-known team of workers that helps keep the GTA free of mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus. The pelletlike larvicide kills mosquitoes by wrecking their digestive system before they mature.

Mosquitoes that carry the virus breed in the water in catch basins – those sewers in the road outside your house.

This summer, 115,000 Toronto catch basins and another 87,000 in Peel were treated three and, in some cases, four times. In fact, most Ontario municipalities have larvicide programs, contracting out the work to companies like the Canadian Centre for Mosquito Management, the Winnipeg-based enterprise that employs Hazelton.

Find out more about how Abell can help you with mosquito problems or read the full article.