Mosquito Season Could Be Worse Than Usual In Northeast

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A wetter-than-normal spring in the Northeast is producing a bumper crop of mosquitoes, leading to worries of a corresponding spike in mosquito-borne illnesses this summer. The heavy rain that erased last summer’s drought has put public health officials on alert as summer begins to unfold. “Anecdotally, everybody is telling me that they’re being eaten alive by mosquitoes,” said Sara Robinson, an epidemiologist for the Maine Center for Disease Control. Mosquitoes (WBZ-TV) But, she hastened to add, it’s too early to say whether there will be an increase in West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis. The rain has created ideal conditions for mosquitoes, though. It was the fourth-wettest spring on record in the Northeast and the wettest ever recorded in Buffalo, New York, said Samantha Borisoff, from the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. It was rainier than usual in many other parts of the country, so many areas are registering some of the same concerns. The rainfall saturated the ground in Maine, creating standing water required for mosquitoes to breed, said Chuck Lubelczyk, of the Maine Medical Center Research Institute. Mosquitoes have been especially bad on Maine’s coast, he said. Several other factors would have to come together to create a scenario in which mosquito-borne illnesses become a big problem. There has to be a concentration of the right mosquito species along with the presence...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Local News Mosquitoes Source Type: news