Mosquito outbreak threatens Houston residents

HOUSTON – As if the hurricane didn’t do enough damage, we can now also blame Beryl for the massive amount of mosquitoes invading the area.

“The hurricane just came through. It dumped a lot of water on us, which means we have a lot of standing water in puddles, in flower pots. When you have a lot of standing water, that means a lot of mosquitoes, especially with temperatures this hot,” said Dr. Linda Yancey, director of infection prevention at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

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So what can we do to prevent pests from visiting us?

“Just walk around your yard. Any place that has standing water, like kids’ toys that can hold water or empty flower pots, you need to empty them. Mosquito larvae can’t grow in running water, so fountains are great. Streams are great,” Yancey said.

Whoever cleaned up all the fallen trees and branches after Beryl was probably bitten once or twice.

In fact, in recent weeks, a Montgomery County woman was diagnosed with West Nile virus.

“There are a couple of other mosquito-borne diseases that we’re watching closely. They’re mostly in the Caribbean right now. They’re Zika and Chikungunya. I don’t know of any cases in Texas, but it’s just a matter of time. (Why do you think it’s just a matter of time?) As the climate warms, all of these diseases are moving north because the mosquitoes that cause them are moving north with the warmer temperatures,” Yancey said.

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To protect yourself from these blood-sucking beasts while you’re outside cleaning up after the hurricane, wear a hat, long sleeves, pants, and closed-toe shoes.

“It’s really terrible. It’s like Jurassic Park, where you’re stuck in the kitchen and they’re banging on the window. We count the kids before we get out of the house. After a heavy rain, there’s just clouds of mosquitoes, especially on the greenbelt side where the water doesn’t dry up,” said Brent Richardson, a Houston resident.

“The best way to prevent a mosquito-borne disease is to never get bitten. There are three main types of mosquito repellents that you can use. Picaridin is a very good choice. Then you have Deet, which has a similar smell to Deet. It’s oily, but it provides very effective protection against mosquitoes and ticks. The third main type is permethrin. This is not something you put on your skin. This is something you spray on your clothing. You spray it on your clothing, let it dry overnight, and then when you wear the clothing, the clothing itself repels the mosquitoes. You can probably find it at hunting and fishing stores,” Yancey said.

She added that if you have other cleanup tasks to do outside after the hurricane, be sure to wear a wide-brimmed hat, long sleeves, pants, closed-toe shoes and gloves.