Mosquitoes and You:
West Nile Virus Scare: In The News
West Nile Virus Map 2012
Pink represents Reported Cases of West Nile Virus
In August the Center for Disease Control released some scary numbers and some warnings that West Nile Virus had taken an unexpected rise. By October the numbers are even higher as we head into the winter months when most of the United States will be relatively safe. The facts are clear; as with many other insect species, the mosquitoes that carry West Nile enjoyed a mild winter followed by a hot summer. In many states there has been an increase in mosquito populations. So what are your odds?
According to the University of Arizona there are forty different species of mosquito in the state. Only four of these are dangerous and one of those carries West Nile Virus. According to statistics from the CDC eighty percent of the people who are bitten by the West Nile mosquito will have no symptoms. Of the twenty percent who do, the symptoms will be mild and only one in one hundred and fifty will get really sick. That boils down to these recent numbers: 4249 reported cases and out of those over 130 were fatal. This is up from the August CDC report of 1118 cases and 41 fatalities.
So here is what you can do to prevent West Nile Virus, keeping in mind that Arizona is not among the Hot Spots for the disease:
- Wear a DEET based insect repellant
- Dress in long sleeves and long pants
- No Dark Clothing; dark colors are attractive to mosquitoes
- Dawn and Dusk are the worst time for mosquitoes
- Drain or treat standing water on or near your property.
Note the D’s in the list and think about making a list for your family to use as a reminder. Something like “Don’t wear Dark clothing or walk at Dawn and Dusk; Do wear DEET repellent and Drain standing water.” If you follow these, burn citronella candles and torches when you are having a barbecue or other outdoor event, then your odds of West Nile Virus affecting your family are greatly decreased.
The treatment of water on your property must be carried out by a professional to protect the environment, your family, pets and beneficial animals and insects. It’s very important to contact your local pest control agency if you are having a problem with mosquitoes.
Don’t forget that you can contact pest control in Chandler and your licensed professional will provide you with all of the details on a comprehensive program to prevent problem pests on your property. All those D’s got me going; now it’s P’s. My boss always said “Proper planning prevents poor performance.” Now I can tell him that: “Professionally planned programs prevent problem pests.”
Tempe AZ –
Termite Control Arizona
1753 E BROADWAY, STE #101
TEMPE, AZ 85282
(480) 630-3019
