CMC tips during ‘Mosquito Control Awareness’ week

This is National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, and Cajun Mosquito Control is reminding residents in the City of Franklin, Patterson, Cypremort Point and throughout St. Mary Parish about the significance of mosquitoes and how they affect their daily lives.
Each year the week of June 26 is declared National Mosquito Control Awareness Week by the American Mosquito Control Association.
Now is the time to enact the necessary mosquito seasonal reminders, educational precautionary measures and actions to avoid mosquito bites and controlling potential breeding sites.
The months of May through November are the peak mosquito arbovirus season.
Reminders like these are used to reduce the potential breeding mosquito egg laying sites that could result in the production of thousands of mosquitoes in your neighborhood or city.
—Remove standing / stagnant water weekly.
—Avoid mosquitoes if at all possible.
—If you will be outside, you should wear a mosquito repellent, preferably one containing DEET. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that insect repellents should be applied by adults when used on children.
—Insect repellents are not recommended for infants younger than two months.
—CDC recommends that you always follow the recommendations appearing on all product labels when using any repellent.
—Apply repellent on exposed skin and clothing. Do not apply under your clothes or on broken skin.
—To apply repellent to your face, spray on your hands and then rub on your face.
—Avoid peak mosquito activity times of dusk and dawn.
—Wear long-sleeved light colored shirts and pants when outdoors for long periods of time.
—Avoid perfumes and colognes when outdoors for extended periods of time.
—Make sure that your house has tight-fitting windows and doors, and that all screens are free of holes.
—Clean and drain clogged roof gutters.
To reduce mosquito populations:
—Drain pet water bowls, ceramic pots, ice chests or any other containers that may have stagnant water on your property at a minimum of every seven days. Turn over wheelbarrows, plastic wading pools, buckets, trash cans, children’s toys or such items that could collect water.
—Drill holes in the bottom of outdoor recycling containers. Drainage holes that are located on the container sides can collect enough water for mosquitoes to breed.
—Check and clean roof gutters routinely. They are often overlooked and can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.
—Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish.
—Clean and chlorinate swimming pools that are not being used. A small swimming pool that is left untended by a family for a month can produce enough mosquitoes to result in neighborhood-wide complaints. Be aware that mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers. Something as small as a bottle cap may breed mosquitoes.
—Repair any holes on damaged screens on windows and doors.
—Please take just takes a few minutes to enact these precautionary control measures routinely.
State health officials characterize the most prevalent of mosquito arboviral virus, the West Nile virus, activity in these areas in three ways: neuroinvasive, West Nile fever and Asymptomatic. A neuroinvasive disease illness is caused by West Nile virus attacking the brain or spinal cord. West Nile fever is less severe, with most people only suffering mild, flu-like symptoms.
Asymptomatic individuals are usually never ill and only discovered to have the West Nile virus in their blood when some type of blood work is performed, such as a blood donation. About 90 percent of all cases are asymptomatic, while about 10 percent will develop West Nile fever. Only a very small number (1 in 150) of infected individuals will show the serious symptoms associated with the neuroinvasive form of West Nile virus.
Residents who are over the age of 65 or individuals with compromised immune systems are at higher risk for complications, but anyone at any age can be at risk for infection.
Another big story in today’s news is the Zika virus being very active in South America and subsequent infections being recorded by travel-related activity.
Here are some facts pertaining to Zika virus infections:
—There are no known confirmed human cases of Zika virus transmitted by infected mosquitoes in the Continental US.
—Aedes Aegypti is the leading carrier of Zika virus. This species of mosquito carries Zika virus and is extremely rare in Louisiana.
—There is no vaccine for infected humans.
—There are just a few isolated locations in Orleans or St. Tammany Parishes that have captured Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes over the last 10 years.
—Human cases that have been reported in the US have been from individuals who traveled to countries where they were infected by mosquitoes carrying Zika virus.
—Zika virus can cause severe birth defects in pregnant women. Microcephaly can severely affect the development of an infant’s brain.
—Female mosquitoes prefer to bite around the ankles of a human host and are considered to be daytime biters.
—Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes prefers to take a human blood meal and lays its eggs very close to its place of origin.
—This species of mosquito prefers to breed in tires, pet water bowls and other small containers.
For more information visit the CMC website at cajunmosquitocontrol.com where you can email in a spray request, click on helpful links or ask a mosquito related question.
Cajun Mosquito Control, LLC can also be reached at 337-365-7988.