Polk County is working to make sure the odds of malaria spreading northward are as low as possible.

Health officials are monitoring Florida’s mosquito population after two more locally acquired cases of malaria were found in Sarasota County, bringing the state’s total to six.

The Florida Department of Health issued a Mosquito-borne illness advisory earlier in June after four people tested positive.

Meanwhile, Central Florida's closest county to the state's malaria epicenter, Polk County, is working to make sure the odds of malaria spreading northward are as low as possible.

“Every mosquito control program is working overtime to do what it takes to make sure that the citizens and their counties are safe. And we do the same here,” said Jackson Mosley, interim director of Polk mosquito control.

Polk County Mosquito Control is putting in extra hours and treatment to work on eliminating the common malaria mosquito species, also known as the anopheles mosquito — the species responsible for spreading malaria to humans.

The team is spraying a bio-control larvacide in ditches and shallow ponds where anopheles lay their eggs, Mosley said. Polk has over 500 lakes for possible breeding, and also plenty of flooded-out areas thanks to summer rainfall. Despite the daunting task of covering a large area, Mosely is confident malaria won’t spread up to Central Florida.