The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recommends the following precautions to protect against mosquito bites and, potentially, West Nile virus:
• When you are outdoors, use insect repellent containing an EPA-registered active ingredient on skin and clothing, including DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR3535. Follow the directions on the package.
• Many mosquitoes are most active at dusk and dawn. Be sure to use insect repellent and wear long sleeves and pants at these times or consider staying indoors during these hours.
• Make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens. Repair or replace screens that have tears. Try to keep doors and windows shut, especially at night.
• Get rid of mosquito breeding sites by emptying standing water from flower pots, buckets and barrels. Change the water in outdoor pet dishes and replace the water in bird baths weekly. Drill holes in tire swings so water drains out. Keep children’s wading pools empty and on their sides when they aren’t being used.
• Regularly mow lawns and cut brush. Ticks like to hide in overgrown, shady areas.
• When hiking, walk in the middle of trails, stay away from tall grass and bushes.
• Check yourself every eight hours for ticks when outside for extended periods of time. Promptly remove a tick if one is found.
Although a nice relief from the drought, recent rains have caused flooding and lots of puddles of standing water, ideal breading conditions for mosquitoes.
The City of Great Bend hopes to help stem this pesky invasion starting tonight, said Street Superintendent Mike Crawford.
Crawford said the city is going to start its anti-mosquito spraying again from about 8 p.m. to about midnight Thursday, Aug. 8. Crews will repeat the procedure at the same time next Thursday, Aug. 15.
During this effort, it’s recommended that people, especially those with breathing problems, stay indoors and keep their windows closed.
The chemicals are dispersed via a “fogger” that is attached to the back of a city truck and it will make passes throughout the city, which is why there is a four-hour window for each spraying.
There is no risk to those people who are susceptible to the chemical, after the fogger has passed, because the chemicals used today have no residual affect. That means that they won’t pose a risk to children or pets who go out after the spraying.
But it also means that the spray has to come into direct contact with a mosquito to kill it, as opposed to the chemical that was used years ago that left a killing dose behind on grass and bushes. The fogger operator will judge the wind direction and cover every other block, allowing the fog to drift for one block.
Fogging is done in the evening because that is when the greatest numbers of mosquitoes are out, so the chemical will do the most good.
Residents are reminded to keep grass and weeds cut short, and to keep everything that can hold even a little water, drained to keep the mosquito numbers down.
There are chemicals that can be applied to low areas where water stands.
These insects may be more than just a pest, notes the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Division of Public Health. These mosquitoes can potentially spread West Nile virus.
In 2012, there were 57 cases of West Nile virus in the state, the most cases since the virus first made its way into Kansas in 2002. There are currently no reported cases of West Nile virus in 2013.
In addition to tracking cases of human illnesses caused by West Nile virus, KDHE assesses the potential for West Nile virus by conducting limited mosquito surveillance, including laboratory testing.
Symptoms of West Nile virus infection range from a slight headache and low-grade fever to swelling of the brain or brain tissue and, in rare cases, death. People who have had West Nile virus before are considered immune.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides the following web page with additional information about West Nile Virus and preventing mosquito bites: http://www.cdc.gov/features/StopMosquitoes.
