County's 'Mosquito Jim' seeks to keep people safe

Jim Torbert with the county's pest abatement department checks for mosquito traps as he made his rounds to local area business on Tuesday. Any captured mosquitos are sent off to a lab to check for the presence of West Nile Virus.

Farmers and residents in Elmore County know him as Mosquito Jim. It's because Jim Torbert has spent the last 10 years of his career with the county's pest abatement department protecting the people from diseases spread by mosquitos.

Torbert's main battle involves the mosquito-borne West Nile Virus, which reached Idaho in 2004. By 2006, there were 996 confirmed cased of the virus reported to the state health department.

The state fought back with the creation of mosquito abatement districts across Idaho to deal with pests deemed a public health concern. Shortly after, Elmore County's Pest Abatement District was created, and Torbert was hired to lead the fight against species-crossing illness.

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