Mosquito Season

With the advent of warm weather comes the advent of mosquitoes.  Not only can these tiny insects be pesky and annoying, they have the potential to bring disease.

Mosquitoes that bite infected birds or animals can carry and then transmit viruses to humans.  In Ohio, people can get diseases including West Nile virus and three forms of encephalitis from mosquito bites.  Symptoms of these mosquito-borne viruses range from no symptoms at all, to mild fever, headache and muscle ache, to illness severe enough to require hospitalization.  What should residents do?

Do your best to avoid being bitten

Try to avoid the mosquito’s most active hours: early morning and late evening.  If you must be outdoors at dawn or dusk, remember to wear long sleeves, long pants and socks.  Remember to use insect repellent.  (Follow label directions carefully, and restrict products for children to those containing 10% or less DEET.)  Keep all window screens repaired.

Make your yard hostile to mosquitoes – eliminate standing water

Mosquitoes breed in standing water.  Any object that can hold water for just one week enables them to breed – pails, old tires, birdbaths, pop cans, bottles, plastic bags.  To eliminate mosquitoes, eliminate their breeding locations.  Either remove these outdoor containers or empty them at least once a week.  Keep gutters and ditches free-flowing.  Fix outdoor faucets that leak and create puddles.  Fill any holes in your yard with gravel or dirt so water will not collect.  Also, keep grass and weeds well trimmed since mosquitoes prefer to rest in tall weeds.

For additional information, check out these links:

Cuyahoga County Board of Health:  www.ccbh.net

Ohio Board of Health:  http://www.odh.ohio.gov

Center for Disease Control and Prevention:  http://www.cdc.gov