What Southeast-Brewster Residents Should Know About Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes

SOUTHEAST-BREWSTER, NY—The warmer weather of spring is a wonderful thing but it also signals the start of mosquito season. That means it's time to take some measures to protect your family from the diseases that mosquitoes can spread.

There are about 70 species of mosquitoes in New York State. Several species can transmit eastern equine encephalitis (EEE, "triple E") and West Nile virus (WNV). EEE and WNV are viral infections that can cause

serious illness and even death. Mosquitoes have also been implicated in the spread of Zika disease.

Many mosquitoes lay their eggs in even small amounts of standing water around the home. Eggs can develop in any standing water that remains more than four days. Many mosquitoes breed in discarded tires

Weeds, tall grass and shrubbery provide an outdoor home for adult mosquitoes. Mosquitoes also can enter houses, apartments and buildings through unscreened windows and doors or through broken screens. Some
mosquitoes are most active between dusk and dawn when the air is calm and the females are most likely to bite. However, other mosquitoes will feed at any time of the day.

Take these steps to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home:

• Reduce or eliminate all standing water in your yard;
• Remove discarded tires and turn over containers in which water can collect;
• Make sure all windows and doors have screens; and
• Make sure screens are free of rips, tears and holes.

You can find more information on how to repel mosquitoes here.