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Ed Yeates reporting With the threat of West Nile virus sitting on our doorstep, abatement districts say they're about to go after even a house mosquito we've never worried about before.
Drought or no drought, this particular mosquito needs only a small puddle of polluted water close to people to breed.
The Northern House Mosquito as it's called. It's a social mosquito that likes to live and lay its eggs around people.
Dr. Sam Dickson / Dir., SLC Mosquito Abatement District: "IT'S THE MOSQUITO THAT WHEN YOU'RE AROUND YOUR HOUSE AT NIGHT, AND THERE IS SOMETHING BUZZING AROUND YOUR EAR BUT YOU CAN NEVER FIND IT. AND THEN YOU GO TO SLEEP AND WAKE UP WITH A MOSQUITO BITE. THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOSQUITO."
Dr. Sam Dickson says we've never worried about this mosquito before because unlike the species which flies in from the bogs west of the city, it's not a big biter of humans. But because many birds, like our own magpies, are potential carriers of the West Nile virus...
"THE NORTHERN HOUSE MOSQUITO LOVES TO BITE BIRDS AND IT LOVES TO STAY AROUND PEOPLE."
Too much of a risk. So don't be surprised in the months to come to see mosquito abatement people looking for the larvae in small puddles of water on your street curbs, in buckets, in cups, in wherever!
Also, for the first time, abatement workers have been out since January, dropping pellets in tree holes which stop tree hole mosquito larvae from turning into adult mosquitoes.
And for yet our other species - the largest population - which breeds in the bigger waters...
DICKSON: "WE'RE RAISING OUR THRESHOLD ON THE SPRAYING OF CULEX TARSALLUS IN THE WATER, FOR THE LARVAE. WE'RE RAISING THAT BY THIRTY TIMES."
Some believe West Nile might have already arrived in Utah last season but just hasn't been identified yet. In any case, it most likely will show up this summer.
