With mosquito season in full swing, there's been some buzz about trap counts.
As part of its adult mosquito surveillance conducted each week by the Province of Manitoba, fewer overall culex tarsalis mosquitoes were detected in provincial traps compared to the week earlier. Culex tarsalis is a species of mosquito that carries the West Nile virus (WNW).
During the week of July 9th to 15th, three WNV-positive mosquito pools were identified in the southern health region, two of which were in Morden.
"We just wanted to caution the public and remind them how to protect themselves against exposure to mosquitoes, just in general," said Parks and Urban Forestry Manager for the City of Morden, Sean Dias.
With mainly dry weather prevailing so far this summer, Dias says it's been pretty quiet on the mosquito front to this point. Culex tarsals mosquitoes are associated with heat, and are more prevalent in warmer temperatures, added Dias. He said that's different than some of the nuisance mosquitoes which are more prevalent in cooler, wet conditions.
Dias recommended some steps to protect yourself and reduce the habitats of mosquitoes to breed.
"Reducing your exposure time during sort of peak activity periods, like dusk and dawn, using a repellent or wearing clothing that would reduce your exposure. And then around the home, I think too, just kind of making sure that there's no standing water, or there are areas where your mosquito breeding habitat can be eliminated or reduced."
If you're using a rain barrel, Dias encourages keeping the screen clean and affixed properly to the top.
- With files from Robyn Wiebe -