{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Officials are pointing the finger at climate change as a Texas city battles another spring of exploding mosquito populations.
“If you open the car door to go somewhere, you have 10 mosquitoes inside,” Mith Varley, a resident of Conroe, a suburb of Houston, Texas, said of the problem, according to a Washington Post article.
Varley, who has lived in the Montgomery County area for nearly 10 years, told the Washington Post he has never seen worse. While the Texas region has always been known as an ideal habitat for mosquitoes, flood-causing rains over the past few weeks have given these pesky insects even more ideal areas to breed and spread.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WHO APPROVES SECOND VACCINE AGAINST MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASE DENGUE AS OUTBREAKS INTENSIFY
Mosquitoes fly over Sand Island, no longer an island, as an unprecedented drought reduces the Colorado River and Lake Mead to critical water levels September 18, 2022 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, in Nevada. (David McNew/Getty Images)
“They’re attracted to me. No one else catches mosquitoes like me,” local resident Linda Adams told the Washington Post. “I was also a redhead when I was a kid. I think that has something to do with it.”
Adams said she never left the house without dousing herself with insect repellent, arguing that it was “the only way I could get through the day.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It has to contain at least 40 percent DEET,” Adams said.
Josue Medina, a local tennis instructor, shares a similar sentiment, telling the Washington Post that this year’s swarm not only has more mosquitoes, but also larger mosquitoes.
“Mosquito season is always bad, but right now it’s worse,” he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}I-45 passing downtown is shown from the observation floor of Chase Tower, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021, in Houston. ((Photo by Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images))
UNDERSTANDING THE SEVERITY OF DENGUE, A DISEASE TRANSMITTED BY MOSQUITOES
Max Vigilant, director of mosquito and vector control in neighboring Harris County, told the Washington Post that sampling so far shows mosquito levels comparable to those in 2022 and 2023, although it is almost impossible to fully count the mosquito population.
However, residents who notice a worsening problem may attribute the cause to climate change, Vigilant said, noting that “warmer temperatures” are coming to the area earlier in the year, making it more likely the presence of ‘a large number of mosquitoes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“This is the impact that climate change has had on Harris Country,” Vigilant told the outlet.
Young man spraying mosquito repellent/insect repellent in the forest, protection against insects (iStock)
Harris County is home to more than 50 species of mosquitoes, the report notes, while the county public health department, where Vigilant works, focuses its work with pesticides on those that can carry diseases such as West Nile virus. Western.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Harris County Public Health Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, residents continue to struggle with the problem while trying to go about their daily lives.
“It’s right here,” Medina told the Washington Post, pointing to a large red mark near his knee. “This one got me yesterday.”
News Source : www.foxnews.com
Gn Health
