It saddens us to know that even now, many years after the unfortunate announcement that a virus called West Nile had found its way onto the Continental United States, people still insist on leaving areas of standing water in their yards for extended periods of time and/or allow the quality and condition of their swimming pool water to deteriorate to a point where it can become a wide open breeding ground for mosquitoes capable of carrying the West Nile virus.
Dr. Damon T. Arnold, state public health director, announced Tuesday a mosquito sample collected in Tazewell County has been confirmed as the first positive West Nile virus test results in Illinois this year.
The Tazewell County Health Department collected the positive mosquito batch in Delavan on June 10.
“During June and July mosquitoes that typically carry West Nile virus are breeding, particularly during hot weather,” said Dr. Arnold. “To help reduce the number of mosquitoes, make sure to get rid of any stagnant water around your home and protect yourself by wearing insect repellent.” ( source )
While not considered a ‘major’ threat to human life by most health officials because its ‘low mortality rate’, it can kill people and it most certainly can cause unwanted medical complications in others. No matter what, though, and regardless of West Nile, we really and truly don’t understand why people do not take action to limit the amount of pesky, blood-sucking mosquitoes in their environments.
Oh wait… Yes, we do understand why (most) people choose to do nothing: LAZINESS and APATHY.
What can I do to help eliminate mosquito breeding grounds?
Below you will find a brief list of places where mosquitoes have been known to shack up do the ‘dirty deed’ they call breeding so your job, should you choose to accept it, will become quite clear: Eliminate as many of those places as possible!
- ‘Old’ water in bird baths
- ‘Nasty’ water in decorative ponds
- Collected water in unused flowerpots
- Standing water in kiddie wading pools
- Water accumulated in old tires or other items capable of holding water
If you live an area where an organized mosquito control group has formed, let your local health officials know if you spot stagnant water in roadside ditches and flooded yards or fields as those locations make superb honeymoon suites for lustful mosquitoes.
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