Orange County health officials warn of worst mosquito season in years
Orange County health officials have issued a warning to the public as they expect the region to face the worst mosquito season they've seen in years.
The onslaught of recent rain has increased chances of mosquitoes breeding throughout the Southland, with Los Angeles County health officials issuing a similar warning to residents just last week.
On top of the increased amount of the annoying insects, they're showing up much sooner than they normally do.
Ken Kay owns and operates Mosquito Joe's out of Seal Beach, who notes that their busy season traditionally begins in May, but this year he started receiving an influx of requests mid-March.
"Cypress, it's already started. This part of Long Beach, it's already started. Los Alamitos, it's loaded," he said.
Health officials say that the earlier arrival lies heavily at fault with the recent weather, as Southern California has been pelted by rainstorm after rainstorm since the beginning of 2023.
Related: Invasive "ankle-biter" mosquitos plaguing Southern Californians
Orange County Vector Control officials have already jumped into action after noticing a larger amount of mosquito larvae than they traditionally do at this time of year, spraying local marshes and wetland areas in hopes of mitigating their spread.
"We had a lot of rain, more than usual, and now we're seeing an uptick in mosquito activity already, early in the season," said Heather Hyland, with Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control. "Like it wasn't early enough."
They sprayed the traditional areas like marshes and parks ahead of schedule for the more-commonly found Culex mosquito. But, just like last year, they're more concerned with the highly-invasive "ankle-biters," otherwise known as the Aedes mosquito — that are known for their preference in biting humans over other mammals or birds.
"The mosquito season is really starting to open up just a bit more because of this ankle-biting mosquito," Hyland said.
The Aedes multiply more quickly, and are able to breed in significantly smaller bodies of water — even up to quarter inch of water in a rain gutter or potted plant.
"Eggs can remain alive for years, and hatch into larvae when conditions are right," Orange County Vector control's website says. noting that the mosquitoes can complete their life cycles both indoors and outdoors.
Related: New study reveals the reason why some people are "mosquito magnets"
While Culex are known for carrying infections like the West Nile virus and encephalitis, Aedes are known to carry the Zika virus, Mayaro virus and yellow fever.
In order to prevent breeding, Orange County Vector control suggests "promoting effective drainage, controlling vegetation and reducing backyard breeding sources," as well as emptying containers that hold water.
