BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Louisiana is seeing a rise in West Nile virus cases. Currently, there are 30 cases. The state has the fourth-highest rate in the country.
“The numbers of mosquitoes, unfortunately, are pretty high,” stated East Baton Rouge (EBR) Parish Mosquito Abatement Assistant Director Randy Vaeth.
Louisiana and Mosquitoes go hand-in-hand.
“We had so much rain in August and September, part of July, too. That constant rain created a lot of habitat for what we call nuisance or floodwater mosquitoes,” Vaeth said.
The West Nile virus has been popping up across the state and landed Louisiana in the top five states for the virus. This meant all hands on deck.
“The building seems empty. That’s because everybody’s out working and we’ll be working tomorrow from six till two. so we’ve got a lot of people out there trying to control a big population of mosquitoes right now,” he said.
Vaeth with EBR Mosquito Control said there have been about two cases in his area, however as you move more southeast, some areas are nearing ten, according to the CDC.
“We’ve seen years where poor, densely populated areas will have fewer positive mosquito samples but have more human cases because of that density of potential human hosts,” he said.
He also believes the climate could be a factor.
“We don’t know for sure. But those were areas hit hard last year by Hurricane Ida, and there were a lot of trees knocked over in that area. That does create extra habitat,” Vaeth said.
However, you can help say adios to some of these pesky insects by using a few tips and tricks.
“Number one, wear repellent, try to avoid the mosquito bite itself. Number two, protect yourself with clothing if you can stand it in this heat. Number three, eliminate breeding sources around your home. And number four, if you’re still having difficulties, call a mosquito district,” he stated.
The EBR mosquito team says they have a plan to spray Friday night in Central.
