Protecting Against The Bite

Protecting Against the Bite. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

I live in an area where I rarely see a mosquito. But that is not the norm. Mosquitoes love standing water. It’s where they breed and thrive. That can be a problem for workers in the great out of doors that regularly work in areas where irrigation water is used. Besides the irritating and sometimes painful bites, mosquitoes are known carriers of a number of diseases including West Nile and malaria. Now before you become completely paranoid about going outside, mosquito expert Laura Harrington says that not all mosquitoes carry all viruses.

HARRINGTON: Only the females. The males don’t feed on blood. They often will consume plant sugars as a source of energy. The most dangerous mosquitoes are the ones that acquire the infection by feeding on an infectious person early on. So when they are a day or two old, they pick up the infection and then the parasite has to replicate. It incubates in the mosquito vector and it eventually the salivary glands and then once she has the parasite in her saliva we think that she is infectious for life.

People who work in areas that there is standing water need to take precautions. First, remove or treat any standing water in places like old tires or containers. Second, there are a lot of myths regarding repellents. Many will only work for a few minutes so do some research and if possible wear long sleeves and pants to cover up.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.