SARASOTA COUNTY (WSNN) – Hurricane season has arrived, which means, so have mosquitoes. Sarasota County Mosquito Management has some tips on how to protect yourself.
The World Health Organization says mosquitoes are the most deadly animals in the world: their bites, claiming the lives of more than one million people a year.
FDOH Sarasota County Spokesperson Steve Huard says the most common mosquito-borne diseases in Florida are West Nile virus, Zika virus, and Chikungunya.
“Whether you think you’re immune to mosquito bites or not, you really are not,” Huard said. “So, it’s better to take the precaution one way or another.”
Sarasota County Mosquito Management Outreach Specialist, Louis Hagney, says mosquitoes love water. so make sure you drain it.
“If you have a boat, tarp, bucket, garbage can, a tire,” Hagney said. Anything that’s going to hold water after the rain, you need to get out there and dump that water if you can.”
Manager, Wade Brennan, says if you call for service and they inspect your home, finding the root of the problem is the only way to get rid of mosquitoes.
“Just going to somebody’s residence and spraying an adulticide really doesn’t take care of the problem, it only patches it, until that next brew comes off,” Brennan said.
So Hagney says you need to get rid of the breeding site.
“The ones that lay on the water, they can hatch into larvae within about a day or two, and then within a week, they’re full-grown blood-thirsty adult mosquitoes,” Hagney said.
He says they can lay up to 200 to 300 eggs in a single raft. The process to feed happens very fast. As soon as they hatch and begin to fly.
“As soon as they come off the water, the males are jumping on them. And as soon as they mate, they basically go out looking for blood.”
Since they reproduce so quickly, Hagney says you also want to cover yourself by wearing protective clothing and keeping your doors shut.
“It’s gotta be little loose-fitting,” Hagney said. “Spandex is not going to stop mosquitoes. They’ll bite right through it. Wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks, and using that insect repellant will help.”
So, contain, control, and don’t get bit. Take some time to go around your house and dump any outstanding water.
“Those efforts that they can actually take will reduce our mosquitoes that are most likely trying to bite them,” Brennan said.
And in turn, it will lessen your chance of getting a virus.
To reach Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services, you can call 941 861-5000 or visit its website. As of June 1, there is a new emergency notification system for Mosquito Management. Alert Sarasota County replaced CODE RED.
