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Hampton Roads cities fighting pesky mosquito problem

Posted at 5:57 PM, Aug 12, 2013
and last updated 2013-08-12 17:57:59-04

Virginia Beach, Va. (WTKR)- The summer mosquito season is in full swing and cities in Hampton Roads are taking action to battle the pests.

In Virginia Beach, NewsChannel 3 tagged along with Public Works crews as they sprayed in a ditch in the Princess Anne area on Monday.

"Any standing water that you can't get rid of - treat with a material that kills the immature mosquitoes before they're ever allowed to fly and bite in the first place," explained Mosquito Control Supervisor Phil Meekins.

In Portsmouth, crews were scheduled to aerially spray for mosquitoes Monday evening.

Aerial mosquito spraying in Portsmouth

"Right now our traps are collecting about 10 percent less mosquitoes than we did last year. Last year was a rather big year for mosquito populations," Meekins explained. "I suspect we'll be seeing an awful lot more mosquitoes in the next week or so in relation to the rains that we've just had."

Suffolk is also battling mosquitoes after testing there identified several mosquitoes testing positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and West Nile Virus (WNV).

Mosquitoes test positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile Virus in Suffolk