From YourCentralValley.com
October 8, 2020
VISALIA, California (KSEE) — October is usually when the number of mosquitoes declines – but in some parts of Tulare County the number is going up.
While the number of diseased mosquitoes is down from last year, mosquito-transmitted diseases like West Nile virus are still being found in humans.
Inside the lab at the Delta Vector Control District, one water sample contains an abundant amount of larvae. Petri dishes also line the counters, filled with hundreds of mosquitoes caught in traps.
General Manager Dr. Mustapha Debboun said the Central Valley’s prolonged heat has made ideal mosquito breeding conditions.
Recently, there’s been an uptick in neighborhoods in northwest Visalia. The district conducted targeted treatment in some of them Thursday morning. However, the number of mosquitoes found carrying viruses is down from 2019. So far, only 139 mosquitoes have been found with West Nile virus, while 39 have been found with St. Louis Encephalitis virus.