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Environmental Health Official Says Mosquito Numbers Down This Summer; So Far

Typically, by this point in the summer, spending time outdoors around dusk would bring with it a serious risk of a mosquito bite or two.  But, this summer, so far, has not produced a large contingent of the biting insects. 

In fact, Fayette County Environmental Health Team Leader Luke Mathias says mosquito numbers are down.  He noted that’s partly based on the number of bugs being caught in surveillance traps. “If we catch 75 mosquitoes in any trap, that would cause us to go ahead and schedule a spraying for that zip code area.  So far our highest count has been, I think it was in the high 20’s or low 30’s for a number of mosquitoes,” said Mathias. 

While health department crews would have been out spraying in certain neighborhoods in past years, Mathias said no spraying has been done so far.  He noted the rather consistent rains this summer have flushed out standing water and likely contributed to a lower count.   Mathias added a predicted dry week could change the dynamics and mean more mosquitoes. 

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