Wet days lead to busy mosquito season in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Experts say this mosquito season has been one of the busiest of record, and much of it because of a recent onslaught of rain.

Typically, mosquitoes breed in areas that have standing, stagnant water, which has become a common sight in the area after multiple rounds of heavy rain.

"You are seeing some different challenges this season than in the past," said Tricia Sherlock of Mosquito Hunters of east Louisville."The challenge with this season is all the rain. Mosquitoes incredibly come out at 50 degrees. However, they love warm, humid weather."

Sherlock and others say people who have issues with mosquitoes should first look for standing water in their yards.

"A cup of water can breed over 1,000 mosquitoes in about a week," Sherlock said.

Earlier this month, the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness announced it would be cutting back on it's mosquito fogging operations amid budget cuts.

"We cut back on a lot of the supplies for mosquito control this year," department head Dr. Sarah Moyer said. "We're still going to be doing our great surveillance so we know where there are pockets of diseases that pop up in the community."

Last year, three zip codes in Louisville were discovered to have mosquitoes with West Nile virus. According to the World Health Organization, mosquitoes are responsible for around 750,000 human deaths every year.

"We've had clients that have gotten MRSA from mosquito bites, something that you would never think about," Sherlock said. "Thankfully, no West Nile (so far)."

MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that is often resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

The health department said it will look to "private partners" to help with fogging this year.

"It's a challenge what we're dealing with. There's no denying that," Sherlock said. "We are extremely busy."