Triangle research lab helping stop mosquito-borne outbreaks in NC

WRAL's Eric Miller got an inside look at the program trying to spot and swat outbreaks as they happen.
Posted 9/24/2025, 11:16:48 PM Updated 9/25/2025, 12:00:09 AM

YOU CAN ALSO STREAM IT ON WRAL

DOT COM, WRAL NEWS APP AND ON

OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

>> IF YOU'VE BEEN OUTSIDE FOR

ANY AMOUNT OF TIME OVER THE

LAST FEW WEEKS, YOU'LL KNOW

THAT THIS IS SEPTEMBER'S PEAK

MOSQUITO SEASON IN NORTH

CAROLINA. YOU PROBABLY HAVE

BEEN BITTEN THOSE TINY BUGS CAN

PACK MORE THAN A BITE. THEY CAN

ALSO CARRY SERIOUS AND

SOMETIMES FATAL DISEASES.

THE BUREAU'S OR MILLER GOT AN

INSIDE LOOK AT A PROGRAM TO

SPOT AND SWAT THE OUTBREAKS AS

THEY HAPPEN.

>> INSIDE A PATCH OF RALLY FOR

EAST 100. HE'S BECOMING THE

HUNT TO THIS ONE ALSO CATCHES

ADULTS THAT ARE LOOKING TO

FIGHT BEAT MICHAEL DOYLE AND IT

HAS A WORKING HERE, HIS FORMAL

TITLE STATE, PUBLIC HEALTH

ENTOMOLOGIST. BUT HE'S REALLY

A FRONTLINE SOLDIER IN THE WAR

BETWEEN A MAN AND MOSQUITO.

THERE IS A LOVE HATE

RELATIONSHIP WITH SKIERS

WORKING FROM A LAB AND NC

STATE'S CAMPUS. TOIL ISN'T JUST

HELPING CATCH THE LITTLE

BLOODSUCKERS. HE'S ALSO HELPING

THE STATE TRACK 3 KEY DISEASE.

IT'S INCLUDING WEST NILE VIRUS.

>> THESE HAVE TO BE COLD TO

KEEP THE VIRUS.

ALIVE UNTIL TESTING IS DONE AT

ITS WORST. THE CDC SAYS WEST

NILE CAUSES HIGH FEVER,

VOMITING, DIARRHEA, AND IN RARE

CASES DESK. BUT SERIOUS CASES

ARE RELATIVELY RARE.

>> BETWEEN 2012 IN

TWENTY-TWENTY DATA FROM NCDHHS

SHOWS NORTH CAROLINA AVERAGE

JUST ONE TO 2 CASES PER MONTH

BETWEEN JULY AND NOVEMBER WITH

THE GREATEST CONCENTRATION OF

CASES POPPING UP IN WAKE

GUILFORD, CUMBERLAND,

MECKLENBURG COUNTY. IT'S THESE

VIRUSES DON'T OCCUR EVENLY

ACROSS THE STATE. THEY HAVE

HOT SPOTS.

>> AND IF THEY CAN IDENTIFY THE

HOT SPOT AND THEY CAN REACT BY

REDUCING INS ADOBE'S KILLED

POPULATION ROUGHLY A QUARTER

OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTIES

PARTICIPATED IN THE STATE'S

MONITORING PROGRAM SENDING IN

LIVE BUGS TO DOYLE'S LAB WITH

DUALS ASSISTANTS. KEEPING THEM

WELL, FED UNTIL TESTING DIE.

THESE ARE LITTLE DISHES THAT

SCREW INTO THERE AND THEY'RE

FILLED WITH BOVINE BLOOD.

DOYLE SAYS THE GOAL OF THE

PROGRAM IS TO BE NIMBLE WHEN

VIRUSES ARE DETECTED, COUNTIES

CAN RESPOND TO BRING IN

TREATMENTS TO SWAP THE NEXT

OUTBREAK BEFORE IT STARTS ITS

LIKE THE ART OF WAR IN WHERE

YOU IF YOU, YOU KNOW, THY ENEMY

AND FOR ME, THAT'S THAT'S HOW

DID IT. RICK MILLER, WRAL,

>> AND THERE'S NOTHING WORSE

THAN GETTING MOSQUITO TO IN

YOUR BEDROOM AT NIGHT AND

YOU'RE GOING TO BED WITH A

BOTHER. YOU ALL KNOW. YEAH, I