Experts advise residents after uptick in West Nile cases
Health officials found West Nile is up this year
Health officials found West Nile is up this year
Health officials have found three mosquitoes in the Cincinnati area that tested positive for West Nile virus.
"The rain lately, that will wake up a lot of mosquitoes so it will hatch those mosquitoes out in your yard and then they'll be biting and laying more eggs," said Beth Sehlhorst, owner of Mosquito Joe.
Not only can they bite, but they also carry disease.
In fact, health officials have found three mosquitoes in the Cincinnati area that tested positive for West Nile virus.
The experts at Mosquito Joe said the first step to protecting your family is prevention: dumping any sitting water that might be in your yard.
"Anything that can hold water can breed mosquitoes. It only takes a cap full to breed about 200-300 of them. Anything from kids' toys to drain spouts to garbage cans, clogged gutters," said Andrew Smith, lead tech at Mosquito Joe.
Not only do preventative measures need to be taken against mosquitoes and their eggs in those low lying and wet areas, but the other thing that you have to keep in mind is that the adult mosquitoes can be hiding around in your yard as well.
"When we spray, it kind of puts up a barrier for them. Mosquitoes can actually only hop about 10-15 feet at a time so they have to land periodically, so when we spray, they're going to land on something that we sprayed," said Smith.
Experts also said to avoid going out at dawn or dusk and wear bug spray if needed.