Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA
05-26-06
Mosquito season could be itchy one this year
By JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO --- Mosquito larvae are itching to come out and play, and it looks
like they'll arrive for the holiday weekend.
This year, mosquitoes will be out patrolling backyards, ball fields and biking trails
a little earlier than usual, which means we'll be enjoying some mosquito with our
barbecue and potato chips over Memorial Day.
A mild winter, warm spring and early rains have conspired to bring us mosquitoes
about three weeks earlier than usual. Mosquito larvae were spotted in stagnant
pools about 10 days ago by county health officers, so we can expect to scratch
and slap our way through the summer beginning right about now.
"We've got larva wiggling in a lot of pools," said Mark Linda, Black Hawk County
environmental health manager. "It's a little earlier than normal to see this level of
mosquito larva activity, which suggests we're going to have a significant early
season of mosquito hatch."
The good news is that the first round of mosquitoes, a flood water variety that
lays eggs in shallow water, probably won't get anyone sick. The bad news: "We'll
have nasty biters," Linda said.
Larry Sivesind, county health officer, offered some hope for mosquito detractors.
A recent dry spell has dried up many of the ponds and ditches he monitors in
Waterloo, which means the mosquitoes may bite early, but perhaps won't bite
quite as often.
Beginning in May, Sivesind starts monitoring ponds and road ditches, such as
those along East Fourth Street or Osage Road, for mosquito larvae in standing
water. Because water temperatures need to reach 70 degrees before larvae
begin hatching, he said most years he won't see much action in May.
If he does discover larvae, he'll toss a larvicide briquette, which looks like a small,
white doughnut, into the standing water to kill developing mosquitoes and black
flies.
Linda anticipates another mild season for the West Nile virus. He said the virus
tends to attack in waves, and it appears West Nile peaked three years ago. Last
year, 37 people in Iowa contracted the virus and two people died, a far cry from
the 147 cases and six deaths in 2003. The virus is relatively rare in Black Hawk
County, where four people have contracted the virus in the last four years.
Still, the health department will continue to keep a close eye on disease-carrying
mosquitoes through its "sentinel chicken flock" at the Sunrise Petting Zoo in
Waterloo.
The department keeps a dozen conventional chickens at the zoo and regularly
tests them for encephalitis and West Nile. If a chicken tests positive, that means
humans are a couple of weeks away from being exposed to disease.
"That's our early warning device," he said.
Another technique is to keep track of the types of mosquitoes in the area. That's
important because there are about 40 species of mosquitoes in Iowa, but only a
handful carry diseases harmful to humans. So health officers hang silo-shaped
light traps that contain a mild cyanide strip over a paper cup, which collects the
dead mosquitoes. Each day officers collect the cups, and "at the end of the week
we send them to the Iowa State University entomology department where
some hapless graduate students sort them by species."
Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or
jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.
{M3Mosquito prevention tips:
--Eliminate tin cans, old tires, wading pools and clean out roof drains.
Remember, one coffee can sitting outside will breed tens of thousands of
mosquitoes each summer.
--Repair window screens.
--Wear mosquito repellent that lists DEET as an active ingredient. Avoid
mosquito prone areas and wear light colored clothes --- mosquitoes are attracted
to dark colors.
--Don't forget to dump bird baths a few times each week.