Most of us got a little rain last night, and you all know what that means: mosquitoes! Just a few ounces of standing water can produce hundreds of mosquitoes in less than a week.
The table below shows the proportions of common mosquitoes in San Mateo County that were collected in carbon dioxide baited traps in September 2017, compared with the five-year average during September.
Click on the graphs to see the year long monitoring data of the average number of mosquitoes captured in CO2 traps per night throughout 2017 and the five-year average for each month of the year.
As of September 28, 2017, there have been 320 dead birds reported in San Mateo County. Of those, 56 have been suitable for testing and 1 has tested positive (2%) for West Nile Virus (WNV). Nine dead squirrels and four mosquito pools have been tested for West Nile Virus in San Mateo County thus far this year, and none of them have tested positive.
To some people ticks may all look the same, but for Vector Ecologists at the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District, knowing the small differences among species can help us learn things such as the potential for disease transmission and distribution. San Mateo County is home to a variety of tick species, many of which residents are unlikely to encounter because of their highly specific habitats. Lab employees however, have the opportunity to collect ticks directly off wild animals when they are captured for disease surveys, in addition to routine tick flagging.
