Rainy May has brought the bugs

Continuing on from yesterdays post regarding West Nile Virus found in birds comes this Ann Arbor News story about mosquitoes: Rainy May has brought the bugs.

Health officials are advising residents to use extra caution while outdoors, now that last month's torrential rains are yielding swarms of big, hungry mosquitoes. Record rainfall in May has made conditions favorable for mosquitoes, said Janet Olszewski, director of the department. Department spokesman T.J. Bucholz said that some state experts were predicting up to four to six times more mosquitoes than usual.

But the jury is still out on whether conditions are favorable for the species of mosquito associated with transmitting the [West Nile] virus to humans. "We have many different species of mosquitoes in Michigan and some respond to the rain, so wet marshy areas and puddles can lead to more of them," said Washtenaw County epidemiologist Laura Bauman. "But is it the type of mosquito we're really worried about? These are some of the questions that are still outstanding as we learn more about the mosquitoes and how the disease behaves."

Ned Walker, a Michigan State University entomologist and mosquito expert, said the bigger concern is the very hot weather. Hot weather causes more rapid development of the virus in mosquitoes, he said. That means it is more easily transmitted to birds, who then infect the next mosquito that bites them, and so on. At some point, it becomes so prevalent among the human and bird populations that it is more easily transmitted to people, Walker said.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five infected people will become ill with symptoms such as fever, weakness, headache and stiffness. Only about one in 150 infected people becomes seriously ill, but people who are over 55 or who have weakened immune systems should be especially careful.

Four to six times the mosquitoes as last year is a lot of mosquitoes whether infected or not!! No word yet on the projected population of this years black flies.