Mosquito precautions urged to halt disease
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City-parish officials are advising area residents to use insect repellant, eliminate standing water that can breed mosquitoes, and take other precautions as the peak season approaches for West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Matt Yates, director of mosquito and rodent control, said Monday that the first human cases of West Nile virus in Louisiana “historically occur in the last week of June or first week of July and build from there.”
While there have been no human cases so far this year, mosquitoes found to be positive for the virus have been trapped in several parishes, including East Baton Rouge, Tangipahoa, and St. Tammany, Yates said.
He said his agency is doing additional spraying in areas where mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile virus, which the insects pick up from wild birds.
Yates said residents should empty water from flower pots or other containers to eliminate breeding habitat for the insects; avoid being outside at dusk or dawn, when the insects are most active; and make sure there are no cracks around windows or holes in screens where mosquitoes can enter the house.
In addition to the West Nile virus, other diseases such as St. Louis encephalitis and Eastern Equine encephalitis can be contracted from mosquitoes, Yates said, and can infect horses and dogs as well as humans.
The directors of several mosquito control programs from throughout the state and academic experts spoke about the need for precautions at a news conference Monday at the parish’s Mosquito Abatement and Rodent Control facility.
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