The rise in cases in South Florida involving the new mosquito disease known as the Zika virus is driving residents to learn new ways to protect themselves and their surrounding area from this dreaded infection. One preventative method you may not have thought of is your home’s gutter system. The City of Miami-Dade has recently issued a warning to its residents to check for anything around their home that can trap water, which includes not only garbage cans, pool covers, and flower pots, but also gutters. As per the city’s report, while mosquitoes tend to breed mostly between the months of May to October, in the Miami area this is a year around concern.
Gutter Systems Help Control New Mosquito Disease
Well-maintained gutter systems are one of the best strategies homeowners in South Florida can use to help control the Zika virus from invading their properties and harming their loved ones.
The Zika virus is infecting South Florida residents through the bites of mosquitoes contaminated with this dreaded new mosquito disease. The Zika virus is thought to be the cause of babies being born with a birth defect called microcephaly. Mothers of these babies are believed to have contracted the Zika virus from an infected mosquito biting them during their pregnancies. Pregnant women infected with the Zika virus unknowingly pass it to their developing babies causing them to be born with unusually small heads and often incomplete brain development.
South Florida has been inundated with reports of concerned residents wanting to understand how this new mosquito disease can be controlled. Health organizations warn that mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus breed by laying their eggs in stagnant water. Checking and removing standing water in or near your property is the best way to ensure your home is not inviting to mosquitoes. Your gutter system may be one of those vulnerable areas on your property that produces the stagnant water if they are clogged. Ensuring your gutters are clean and properly functioning is key to keeping mosquitoes away from your home.
Purpose of Your Home Gutters
Gutters are one of those features of a home that many homeowners don’t ever give a second thought to but they should. As this new mosquito disease continues to proliferate throughout the South Florida area, understanding how gutters work to prevent the Zika virus from spreading is critical.
Gutters are those narrow, long aluminum or copper channels attached to the fascia along the edge of your roof. They are designed to capture and direct the rain falling from the roof, down to the ground, and away from your property. A properly functioning gutter system will effortlessly direct the rain water to the downspouts so it can drain to an area of your property where it will not pool. Ideally, this would be an area where the water can freely flow away from your property where eventually it will be absorbed into the ground. In contrast, if your gutters are not working properly, they become a pool of standing water around the entire perimeter of your home! This is an ideal environment for mosquitos to breed.
Unchecked Gutters May Lead to Zika Virus Mosquitoes
When gutters are working well, they assist in preventing mosquitoes with the Zika virus from breeding near your home. Unfortunately, there are many homes whose gutters have remained unchecked for many years. A lack of maintenance causes blockages to form in your gutters and downspout, which can cause stagnant water to accumulate on your property.
South Florida’s high rainfall levels add to the dilemma, with the constant rain showers there is no time for the standing water in the gutters to evaporate. As a result, it creates the ideal environment needed for this new mosquito disease to develop.
Time for a Gutter Check
If you haven’t had your gutters professionally checked and cleaned in the last twelve months, NOW is the time to call in the experts at Gutter it UP! Our team of professional will do a thorough inspection of your entire gutter system to ensure its properly functioning. Not only is the inspection FREE, but we are currently offering our customers a 10% DISCOUNT for all gutter cleaning services to help keep our community safe.
Keep you and your loved ones safe from the Zika virus with this special offer to check of your home’s gutter system. Give us a call today and schedule a FREE gutter inspection: (954) 603-1888