Jul 19 2008
Mosquito News Digest
Dean Cousino at the Monroe Evening News has a story about mosquitoes…
As if fighting off normal-sized mosquitoes isn’t enough, the region now has large blood-sucking mosquitoes assaulting mostly animals and livestock.
Called “gallon nippers,” the larger mosquitoes are about a half-inch long, which is two-thirds larger than regular mosquitoes that bite, said Jennie Stanger, consumer horticulture educator for the Monroe MSU Extension Service.
http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080719/NEWS01/512155664/-1/NEWS_RSS
Other recent mosquito stories in the regional press:
Lansing State Journal:
It’s prime mosquito time, and we’re in for an itchier- than-usual summer with little hope for mercy, said Michael Kaufman, a research entomologist with the Michigan State University Extension.
“In terms of nuisance-biting mosquitoes, it’s going to rank right up there,” he said.
While the research facility doesn’t monitor mosquito populations, Kaufman said he and others are observing heavier-than-usual populations of the bugs.
It’s mostly due to the large amounts of rainfall the Lansing area has received in recent weeks, leaving pools of standing water the insects readily exploit for breeding.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080706/NEWS01/807060583/1002/NEWS01
Ann Arbor News:
One obvious contributor to the mosquito population is all the rain that has fallen this spring and summer, but the story isn’t quite as simple as that.
Culex pipiens, the mosquito that is the major transmitter of the West Nile virus to humans, doesn’t appear in really large numbers until later in the summer, usually August and September, said Laura Bauman, epidemiologist with the Washtenaw County Health Department. Culex pipiens also breeds more in hot, dry weather.
“We actually get worried if we have a spell of no rain for four or five weeks,” Bauman said.
That’s because Culex pipiens tends to breed in small amounts of water, such as the catch basins of storm sewers, Bauman said. If there are repeated, large rains, such as has been happening lately in Washtenaw County, the Culex pipiens eggs get washed away and the population is not so numerous.
However, other mosquitoes that are more of a nuisance than a threat prefer the kind of wet weather Southeast Michigan residents have been experiencing lately, said Gabe Hamer, an MSU doctoral student studying West Nile virus. Two examples, the Ochlerotatus trivittatus and the Ades vexans, lay their eggs on dry ground. The eggs hatch when rains cause water to flood those grounds.
“Those fall into the whole nuisance mosquito category,” Hamer said.
So far this year, the medical entomology laboratory where he works has not found any mosquitoes sent from around the state to be positive for West Nile virus, Hamer said.
The key factor for people to remember is to protect themselves from mosquitoes, Bauman said. Three kinds of mosquito repellents approved as both safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration are those containing DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus, Bauman said. The Centers for Disease Control also recommends repellents containing PMD, which is a synthesized form of oil of lemon eucalyptus, and IR3535.
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/07/mosquitos_numerous_this_season.html
Battle Creek Enquirer:
The spike in the pesky insects is very pronounced in Iowa — some areas have 20 times the normal number of mosquitoes — but local experts and campers have seen an increase around Battle Creek as well.
“This is a heck of a year so far,” said Paul Makoski, a program coordinator/biologist with the Calhoun County Public Health Department.
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080705/NEWS01/807050309/1002/NEWS01
The Port Huron Times Herald has a state warning related to the use of DEET:
In rare cases, excessive exposure to DEET may cause headaches, restlessness, crying spells, mania, staggering, rapid breathing and convulsions, the department warns.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Health:
Repellents with DEET should not be used on infants younger than 2 months old.
Apply repellent on a child by first applying it on your hands and then rubbing it on the child.
Avoid children’s eyes and mouths and use it sparingly around their ears. Do not put repellent on a child’s hands.
http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/NEWS05/80702015/1002/rss
Public radio’s Environment Report has an overview of next generation bug repellants:
http://www.environmentreport.org/story.php3?story_id=4073
Chicago Tribune:
The onslaught of rainfall this spring created perfect breeding conditions for mosquitoes throughout the Chicago area.Many of the broods started to hatch in May but didn’t go looking for a blood meal in full force until the recent blast of hot, muggy weather, experts said.
Those in charge of counting the insects are finding 300 or more mosquitoes in traps that usually contain 30, said George Balis of Clarke Environmental, a mosquito abatement company based in Roselle.
In flooded areas near the Fox River and Chain O’ Lakes—prime mosquito territory—that roughly means an annoyance level 10 to 15 times higher than normal.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-flood-mosquitoes_both_28jun28,0,7831461.story
Adrian Daily Telegram:
A service of testing dead blue jays, crows and ravens is also being repeated this year by the Lenawee County Health Department to help monitor the presence of the disease. Testing can be requested by calling 264-5214.
The first bird this season has already been tested and found negative for West Nile Virus, said Nelson. A resident in the Tecumseh area reported a dead blue jay to the health department on April 24. A sample was collected the next day and sent to Michigan State University. The results were reported back on May 5.
Washtenaw County is the only other county to submit a bird sample for testing at MSU so far this year. It was negative also.
Lenawee County had no confirmed animal or human West Nile Virus infections last year. The nearest confirmed case last year was an infected horse in Jackson County.
In all of Michigan, there were 16 human infections reported last year with four deaths. Seven of the human cases were in Wayne County and two each in Oakland, Macomb and Kent counties, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health.
http://www.lenconnect.com/homepage/x710598656/Mosquito-season-brings-West-Nile-Virus-warnings
New York Times:
DEET — or N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide — has been used for 50 years and is still the gold standard. But new repellents are always needed because the threat from mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, yellow fever, West Nile virus and Rift Valley fever is growing.
Chemists at the University of Florida and the United States Department of Agriculture screened many acylpiperidines, which are related to the active ingredient in pepper. Their study was published online Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In tests on humans, they found that some acylpiperidines could repel mosquitoes for up to 73 days, while DEET typically lasted only 17 days. However, the tests did not replicate typical exposures. Volunteers wore thick gloves with holes, over which were taped pieces of muslin soaked in repellent, and their arms were thrust into cages of mosquitoes for only one minute. “Failure to repel” was recorded on the first day that five mosquitoes bit through the cloth.
Tests of commercial repellents in 2002 done with bare skin found that the most effective were those that contained the most DEET — and they lasted only about five hours.
Detroit Free Press on next generation bug repellants:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080526/NEWS07/80526040/1118/RSS