Posts

Showing posts with the label Zika

Control Mosquito Larvae & Protect Yourself

Foggers used by cities and towns can be a pretty effective tool for controlling mosquitos. They can even be used around the house. It is best, however, to start with the basics. Both types of disease carrying mosquitos need standing water to hatch. Get rid of it, especially if it is nasty water says University of Illinois Extension Entomologist Phil Nixon.

Quote Summary - Those mosquitos are quiet biters, they will sneak up and bite you. They are the ones in the case of the northern house mosquito, transmitting west nile virus and in the case of the Asian tiger mosquito Zika virus, if it gets established this coming summer. Both of these mosquitos tend to be short range flyers, usually a quarter to half a mile, and so what you do on your own property and what your neighbors do can make a huge difference in the numbers of these mosquitos and the likelyhood of being bitten.

The first line of defense says Phil Nixon, and the Centers for Disease Control, is to protect your own person and your family. Use an EPA-registered insect repellant. Clean out your gutters and get rid of standing water. If you want to go further, in the case of a backyard get together for instance, even in the Midwest where Zika carrying mosquitos are unlikely to appear, call in bigger guns like Daren Bohannan. He owns a Mosquito Squad franchise.

Quote Summary - So, when we are treating your yard here in the Midwest, we are probably not killing any of the aegypti, but there are some other mosquitos that carry other diseases like West Nile and heart worm for your pets. So, I think more people are concerned in the local area here in central Illinois with just the nuisance of mosquitos.

Once final note on mosquitos. You heard Phil Nixon say the two disease carrying types sneak up on you. Those two types aren’t particularly noisy. So, less to worry about if you hear that mosquito buzzing by just before you feel its bite.