Vector Control: Mosquitoes are here early

Mosquito season began a little early this year. With the unseasonably warm temperatures this month, officials from the Placer Mosquito and Vector Control District have been hard at work. "People are getting eaten alive," said Meagan Luevano, public information officer for the district. "It's been so warm, and the rice field mosquito has been pretty much everywhere and they are really aggressive biters." Luevano delivered a report to the Auburn City Council on Monday, reporting on what residents should look out for this year. "Because we were so warm in February, this year our season sort of got started a little early," Luevano said. The vector control district's main job is mostly to monitor the mosquito and tick community and educate the public when they are at risk of a disease carried by one of the pests. They also educate the community on how to defend themselves against mosquitoes and ticks. Luevano said there have been several calls for mosquitofish, which the district provides free of cost to properties with ponds. "It's been so warm lately, which is usually when we send out and distribute mosquitofish to people," Luevano said. "It's still too cold for mosquitofish to survive at night." She said those calling in can be put on a distribution list for the fish. Another popular question: Will the novel coronavirus spread via mosquito bites? The answer is no. There are 31 species of mosquitoes, and the current star of the show is the rice field mosquito. Historically, that type of mosquito has not been known to carry West Nile Virus. The vector control district also examines ticks and reported there is Lyme Disease present in approximately 2 percent of ticks out on the trails. In April, the treehole mosquitoes usually come out and they are a vector of heartworm in dogs and cats so Luevano advised owners make sure their pets have heartworm medications. This year, there is a new species of mosquito to watch out for, one which can carry several diseases. The Aedes aegypti mosquito can transmit Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. There were two Aedes aegypti mosquitoes discovered at the end of last year's mosquito season in late August and early September in the southern part of the county, where Placer County borders with Sacramento County. "The new invasive mosquito can actually breed in barely any water," Luevano said. "We want to make sure we are getting rid of water completely." For more information, contact the Placer Mosquito and Vector Control District at placermosquito.org.