Wet Weather Bolsters Mosquito Population

It has been a difficult year weather-wise in many parts of the country due to heavy winter snows, rains, and the ensuing flooding this spring. One of the fallouts of this extreme weather has been a significant increase in the number of mosquitoes. As the article below highlights, huge numbers of mosquitoes are becoming an unusually difficult problem for many communities. Another article I read states that even the high rate of home foreclosures is playing a role, as many abandoned swimming pools are providing premium breeding grounds for these insects.

This issue can lead to panic and the abusive use of chemical methods of controlling mosquitoes, especially when the media plays on the fears of the public regarding the West Nile virus. Some municipalities are even resorting to mass spraying of toxic pesticides in neighborhoods, a practice that has almost ceased in the last several decades. Yes, mosquitoes can pose a health hazard, but overreacting by exposing people and the environment to dangerous chemicals is not the answer.

Common sense is called for here. Try to plan outdoor activities during times when the mosquitoes are not most active, especially avoiding being outdoors around dusk if at all possible. The use of long sleeved shirts and pants are recommended for those hiking in dense forest areas. Citronella candles are also advised, as is a good all-natural, DEET-FREE mosquito repellent like NoBite XF. B-Complex vitamins, ultrasonic devices, or daily consumption of fresh, organic garlic may help as well. Despite what the media says, the truth of the matter is that the chances of getting serious illnesses from mosquitoes, including West Nile virus, is quite slim, and simple protective all-natural measures are really quite effective.


First the floods, now the mosquitoes
Standing water producing perfect swarm, experts say
By Carolyn Starks and Vikki Ortiz Chicago Tribune reporters
11:17 PM CDT, June 27, 2008

Mother Nature flipped a switch this week that unleashed swarms of aggressive mosquitoes so hungry that bug-spraying teams are working overtime to calm frazzled nerves.

The onslaught of rainfall this spring created perfect breeding conditions for mosquitoes throughout the Chicago area. Many of the broods started to hatch in May but didn't go looking for a blood meal in full force until the recent blast of hot, muggy weather, experts said.

Those in charge of counting the insects are finding 300 or more mosquitoes in traps that usually contain 30, said George Balis of Clarke Environmental, a mosquito abatement company based in Roselle.

In flooded areas near the Fox River and Chain O' Lakes -- prime mosquito territory -- that roughly means an annoyance level 10 to 15 times higher than normal.

"We have a very substantial amount of floodwater mosquitoes that you can generally say are attacking the whole Chicago area," said Mike Szyska, director of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, which covers 241 square miles in the Cook County suburbs. "These are the very aggressive ones and are both daytime and nighttime biters."

Public health officials are worried about increasing numbers of Culex pipiens, the species that can carry the potentially deadly West Nile virus. That nasty skeeter is reproducing more rapidly than normal because of all the stagnant water.

While the number of infected mosquitoes is not high now, health officials believe a hot summer could increase the risk of disease from the virus in birds, animals and humans. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported in the past two months that three batches of mosquitoes tested positive for the virus in Evanston, and one each in Bartlett and Villa Park.

John Massey of Schaumburg thinks about the illness every time he slaps a mosquito dead. He's been doing that often lately.

Massey, 59, was recently swarmed on the golf course.

"All at once, they came out," he said. "There must be 20 different varieties."If victims aren't worrying, or itching, they're running.

Ray Koteras, 47, of Crystal Lake said he and other parents at children's baseball games this week spent as much time swatting their limbs as they did watching the action. His family, he said, has been forced to sprint from their garage to the house, slamming the door shut to keep the bugs out.

"The last couple weeks it's been . . . just swarming," Koteras said of the mosquitoes. "It's been brutal."

The buzzing clouds are particularly thick in parts of McHenry and Lake Counties, where stagnant water from the flooding is receding and leaving pools of larvae to hatch.

The Chain O' Lakes and Fox River, which closed this month due to dangerous conditions, were reopened Friday. But business owners along the water fear July 4 vacationers will have unwanted company.

"[The mosquitoes] come out around 9 p.m.," said Mel Christensen, a shuttle boat operator at Port of Blarney in Antioch. "They come out, and they're hungry. We've got a lot of standing water so they're going to be bad this year."

In Chicago, health workers have dropped larvicide into 300,000 catch basins and use about 80 traps to gauge the volume and types of mosquitoes.

"We're seeing loads of the nuisance mosquitoes at this point," said Tim Hadac, spokesman for the city's Department of Public Health.

Szyska said his teams have been working 12-hour days and weekends killing larvae in catch basins and spraying neighborhoods at night. Trying to control the pests, he said, often seems like a never-ending fight.

Arming themselves for battle, Allan and Swati Nielson perused the insect repellent aisle Friday at Cabela's Outdoor Gear Store in Hoffman Estates. They were preparing for a weekend camping trip that promised to be a bug fest.

The mosquitoes in their Park Ridge yard have been a plague, which they only expect to get worse.

"You'll sit there and they're just all around you," said Swati Nielson, 35. "You get bitten alive."

Tribune reporters Deborah Horan and Josh Noel contributed to this report.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-flood-mosquitoes_both_28jun28,0,7831461.story