If you take walks in the early morning or evening
you may have recently seen clouds of fluttering insects rising
from the ground. They don’t fly well, but when backlit by the
sun, it makes you think of quiet days sitting by a lake in the
morning mist.
Many people may not know that there was a time, not long ago,
when malaria was more than a disease you only worried about when
traveling. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease resulting from a
parasite that causes fever, chills and flu-like symptoms that can
progress to liver and kidney failure, or even coma and death in
the worst cases. There are four protozoa that can cause the
disease: Plasmodium falciparum, P. malariae,
P. ovale and P. vivax. All four of these
parasites are carried by mosquitoes in the genus
Anopheles.
As of October 31, 2020, there have been 204 dead birds reported
in San Mateo County. Of those, 62 have been suitable for testing
and one has tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV). The WNV
positive bird was an American crow collected from South San
Francisco in September. This has been the only detection of WNV
in San Mateo County in 2020. No mosquito samples or sentinel
chickens have been confirmed positive for WNV in San Mateo County
this year.
San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control
District is wishing Vector Ecologist Cheryl “Tina” Sebay happy
trails as she has announced she will retire after 16 years of
service to the District.
