VIRGINIA BEACH — According to the CDC the mosquito is the world’s deadliest creature.
And as our climate warms, a recent study shows the number of mosquito days is increasing across the U.S. and right here in Virginia.
“In Virginia Beach, we have at least 30 different species,” Kaitlyn Price, a biologist with the Mosquito Control Bureau of Virginia Beach.
Price and her team pull the insects from traps, identify, and study them.
“Mosquitoes can breed in at least a cap full of water,” she told us.
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Mosquitos breed in stagnant water and thrive in warm, humid weather.
And as our climate warms many places become more welcoming to mosquitos and the health risks they carry.
Through their bites mosquitos can transmit diseases like West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and more.
“The populations that we look or the species that we look at that carry West Nile is the Culex genus, and so it's basically a cycle between birds and mosquitoes,” said Price. “And so, once it's carried from mosquito to bird, and then it kind of just amplifies, and then you start to see it in humans.”
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Price says this is rare, but according to the CDC there have been 8 cases of West Nile Virus reported in Virginia and 16 in North Carolina.
A study from climate central analyzed mosquito weather patterns from 1979 to 2022 and found an average increase of 16 mosquito days in the U.S.
A mosquito day is described as having humidity averages of 42 percent or higher, and temperatures between 50 and 95 degrees.
“Every year is different. I mean, it all just depends on what kind of weather conditions we have that year,” said Jennifer Barritt, the superintendent for the Virginia Beach Mosquito Control Bureau.
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Barritt can’t say if they’re seeing more mosquito days in Virginia Beach, but they continue working to control their populations.
She says mosquitos live three-quarters of their life in the water so the best method is preventing them from making your backyard their home.
“If you can get rid of the standing water in the different artificial containers in your yard, that can really help, that can go a long way in helping you to not have problems with mosquitoes.”
If you’d like to request a yard inspection from the Mosquito Control Bureau you can give them a call at 757-385-1470, and they can send someone to visit your properly and inspect your yard.
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