Wet weather could lead to more mosquitoes

FAYETTEVILLE

Now, local officials are trying to fight the bugs before they become a serious health risk.

"These mosquitoes are vicious out here," said James Pratt. "Man, these mosquitoes are bad."

Once again, it's all out war against man's number one enemy, and if you think there are more of them out there this year, and they seem to be biting more, you can thank the Asian Tiger mosquito.

"They are a mean mosquito. It's not like a regular mosquito that will bite you in the early morning or late evening," said Daniel Ortiz, with the Cumberland County Health Department.  "They will bite you all day long."

There is more than just an annoying itch at stake. Across the state, mosquitoes are blamed each year for outbreaks of West Nile virus, and encephalitis.

Health department officials say the mosquito population usually parallels the amount of rain out area gets. That means it could be a bad year for mosquitoes. That's why we need to be on guard for places where they breed.

"The biggest thing is the tip and toss method," said Ortiz. "Go around your property if you have any standing water, tip it over."

Some communities spray hundreds of gallons of bug spray into the air.

This year, the Cumberland County Health Department gave away free hundreds of donut-shaped tablets called "dunks" that go into standing water. Demand was so great that the department ran out. However, they have ordered 50 more cases of the insecticide.

More mosquito dunks are expected to be in by the end of this week, or early next week.

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