Buzz. Smack. The sting of summer’s most annoying pest is back.
Recent heavy rain and warmer-than-usual temperatures have spurred the first flush of Front Range mosquitoes — and it may get worse next week.
“With heavy rains like we saw last week, it sort of acts like a double-edged sword: A lot of the breeding mosquito larvae gets washed away, but it does leave standing water behind,” said Rob Kozar, an operations manager with Colorado Mosquito Control. “That, with higher temperatures, certainly does act as good breeding grounds for mosquitoes.”
Though West Nile virus has been confirmed in Colorado in past seasons, some health departments monitoring for the mosquito-carried illness say they haven’t detected Culex pipiens or Culex tarsalis, the species that spread the disease.
City of Boulder monitors have been treating marshy areas just in case, but so far, 98 percent of the adult mosquitoes collected have been the nuisance insects, not the vector, or illness-spreading, species.
In Larimer County, counts have detected some of the vector species, but none infected with West Nile, health department spokeswoman Jane Viste said.
“But this is the perfect time to start thinking about wearing repellant,” Viste said.
Doug Kelley, director of Denver Animal and Vector Care and Control, said testing for West Nile does not officially begin until July 1.
Kelley said people should not become complacent, even though the number of West Nile cases has decreased in Colorado.
“There have been a lot of people exposed to West Nile, so the risk is lower, but it’s still there and I don’t know it will ever go away,” Kelley said. “People still need to be careful and take precautions so they don’t become a mosquito’s next blood meal.”
Chet Moore, a professor of microbiology, immunology and pathology at Colorado State University, said CSU’s infectious-disease laboratory will start testing adult mosquitoes for the West Nile virus next week.
“West Nile is here to stay,” Moore said. “If we have the right temperature and conditions, we could certainly see another outbreak like we did in 2003.”
Moore said reports he has received indicate less frequent virus activity than in the past; however, there has been increased activity among nuisance mosquitoes.
“Nuisance mosquitoes bite, but they don’t transmit any disease,” Moore said. “They’re just nasty little things.”
There are more than 30 species of mosquitoes in Colorado. Few bite humans and only two transmit disease, Moore said.
Aedes vexans — what Moore calls “barbecue mosquitoes” — are particularly active in the evening and are very aggressive.
“Their name means ‘vexing,’ ” Moore said, “and they certainly are.”
Bianca Davis: 303-954-1698 or bsmith-davis@denverpost.com
Don’t let ’em bug you
Here are a few tips to help you stay as bite-free as possible.
Eliminate standing water.
Maintain tightly sealed doors and windows: This is key to ensure no mosquitoes are getting inside. Homes that use air conditioning are less attractive because of the cooler temperatures.
Cover up: Long sleeves and long pants keep the insects away from your skin. Lighter colors also are less attractive to mosquitoes.
Use a good insect repellant: DEET is the best in terms of length of protection but is oil-based and can feel greasy. Picaridin, alcohol-based, is almost as long-lasting and is considered lighter- feeling. Oil of lemon eucalyptus repellants are derived from natural ingredients.
Bianca Davis, The Denver Post
