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Coco Warner ReportingIf it feels like you're fighting off more mosquitoes this summer, it may be because you are! The combination of our wet spring and hot summer have made conditions ripe for mosquito breeding.
One small puddle of stagnant water acts as the breeding ground for hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes. And this summer's increase in the mosquito population also means an increase in the chance of contracting the West Nile virus.
Cody Fairbanks: "There were like a whole bunch of them, like this thick and like tons of them everywhere!"
Summer memories are supposed to stay with you, just maybe not on you. Cody and his dad spent the weekend camping in the Uintas and brought home plenty of mosquito bites.
Greg Fairbanks: "As you'd breathe in, you'd inhale them and have to spit them back out."
Sammie Dickson, SLC Mosquito Abatement District: "A combination of very hot temperatures and a lot of standing water."
It makes for a busy summer fighting off the mosquitoes. Abatement employees comb the marshlands and hit the streets on bicycles. In Salt Lake County, the number of mosquitoes that transmit West Nile Virus is twice the three year average right now.
Sammie Dickson, SLC Mosquito Abatement District: "We turned in 90 samples to the state laboratory and four of those were positive for West Nile Virus, and that's more positive than we had all of last year in our district."
A rain gutter we found in the avenues is the perfect example of what abatement team is fighting against. There are hundreds of mosquito larvae that are waiting to emerge. To kill the larvae, they toss in small packets of bacteria laced corn kernels.
You can help protect yourself from mosquitoes by clearing standing water and steering clear of them in the first place.
Sammie Dickson: "Make sure you have people back in before dusk, so before it gets dark. If you're going to be out after dark, make sure you use some sort of mosquito repellant."
Greg Fairbanks: "I'm going to take a lot of mosquito repellant, at least a bottle a day!"
And that repellant should include at least 10 percent for children, 25 percent for adults. If you have any concerns about mosquitoes in your area, call your local abatement company. Their services are free of charge.
