The mosquito control program in San Mateo County is one of the
oldest in the United States. Control work was initiated in 1904,
when the Burlingame Improvement Club asked entomologists from the
University of California to assist them in developing a plan to
fight the city’s mosquito infestations. H.J. Quayle, an
entomologist with the University Experiment Station, conducted a
preliminary survey. He determined that 95% of the mosquitoes
biting residents were arising from diked reclaimed salt marshes
along San Francisco Bay.